The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced four persons to various terms of imprisonment for offences bordering on illegal foreign exchange transactions and unlawful trading in naira notes.
In separate judgments delivered on Friday, Justice F.N. Ogazi, sentenced Ahmad Umar Baros to two months’ imprisonment, while Aminu Umar Injay, Yusuf Suleimon and Olasunbo Sholanke were each sentenced to six months in prison.
The four convicts were separately arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on one-count charges on Thursday.
Baros was charged with engaging in foreign exchange transactions outside the official foreign exchange market.
The charge alleged that Baros, sometime in 2026 in Lagos, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction other than through the official foreign exchange market, contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment etc) Act, 1994, and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.
Suleimon and Sholanke were separately charged with the illegal sale and trading of naira notes.
The charge against Suleimon alleged that he, on or about July 25, 2026, in Lagos, sold and traded in naira notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, contrary to Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 (as amended), and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Act. NigerianEntrepreneur Support
All the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to them.
Following their pleas, prosecution counsel N.K. Ukoha, Ebuka Okongwu and U.S. Kyari reviewed the facts of the cases before the court and urged Justice Ogazi to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the law.
Delivering his judgments, Justice Ogazi found all four defendants guilty of the offences.
While Baros was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment, the other three convicts were sentenced to six months each, with an option of a N100,000 fine.