Court Sends Naira Hawker To 3 Months Community Service

As a result of his involvement in hawking Nigeria currency, a man, Fabian John Itafor, has been sentenced to three months of community service.

The convicted Itafor was handed the punishment by Justice Kehinde Olayiwola Ogundare of a Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, after pleading guilty to a count charge made against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). 

Abubakar Wara, the counsel for the anti-graft agency, had told the judge that the money hawker was arrested on February 24, 2024, at Leisure Event Center, Wale Olateju Street, Victoria Island, where he was hawking new Naira notes.

The lawyer, who further informed the court that while the convict was being arrested, the sum of N347,000.00, $1, and £50 was found in his possession, just as he added that the convict’s illegal act contravened Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007, and punishable under the same Act.

The charge against the convict reads: “That you Fabian John Itafor, on or about the 24th day of February 2024 at Leisure Event Center, Wale Olateju Street, Victoria Island, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, hawked the sum of N347 000.00 (Three Hundred and Forty Seven Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007.” 

But the money hawker pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him, prompting the prosecutor to ask the court to convict and sentence him in accordance with the section of the Act he was charged with.

Speaking through his lawyer, the convict posited that he was a first-time offender and pleaded for leniency even as he promised not to engage in such an Act.

He equally urged the court to consider an option of a fine in lieu of the custodial sentence.

Having confirmed from the prosecutor that the convict was a first-time offender and without any record of previous conviction, Justice Ogundare sentenced the money hawker to three months of community service but ordered him to pay the sum of N50,000.00, in lieu of the sentencing. 

Justice Ogundare further ordered that the convict forfeit his POS machine and the sum of N347,000.00; $1, and £50, found on him during his arrest to the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).

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