Naira Scarcity: ICPC arrests filling station accountant conniving with PoS operator, discover N1m cash

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested a filling station accountant conniving with PoS operators in the criminal act of naira racketeering.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the clampdown follows a directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria for security agencies to arrest individuals engaging in acts that exploit members of the public through high commissions for transactions.

Speaking on the matter on Friday in Abuja, the spokesperson of the Commission, Mrs Azuka Ogugua said that the accountant was arrested for alleged involvement in naira notes racketeering.

She said that Commission's Monitoring Team had gotten information that filling station intentionally disconnected its PoS machine so as to make it difficult for customers to make payment for petrol.

The customers who were now forced to pay in cash were then directed by the filling station to a PoS operator opposite the station to withdraw cash via their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

On further investigation the ICPC team found out that the PoS belonged to the filling station accountant.

It also found out that the PoS operator was charging very high amount for the transactions which went against the directive of the CBN. Ogugua also disclosed that the sum of N1,000,000 was found with the PoS operator which the team directed must be paid into an account.