Some Bureau De Change operators were reportedly apprehended by operatives from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday at the renowned Wuse Zone 4 market.
It was gathered that some of the BDC operators resisted the arrest during a sting operation by the anti-graft agency.
Naijaonpoint understands that the EFCC conducted routine raids to cleanse the market of street traders and eliminate unauthorized trading.
However, the EFFC’s latest endeavour faced opposition on Tuesday, resulting in gunshots and damage to the operatives’ vehicles.
Two currency traders who were present during the incident gave details of the operation to journalists, stating that the traders acted out of frustration as the frequency of arrests had become excessive and seemed to be a means of extorting money from them.
“EFCC guys came to raid and make an arrest on Monday, and they came today (Tuesday), but today’s operation was too strong.
“This is the issue we are facing. Yesterday (Monday), they arrested traders, but they were attacked back today, and gunshots were fired because our people tried to resist the arrest. They were provoked and frustrated. They even broke the glasses of the EFCC vehicles today, and that means people are getting tired and desperate,” one of the traders who spoke on condition of anonymity told The PUNCH.
Another trader who confirmed the incident expressed concerns that continued raids by the EFCC might lead to killings.
He said: “If this thing continues like this, that means they would kill people because if they try to arrest next time, nobody would agree and another person would gather together so that nobody would be taken.
“That was happened today. People are now turning because all they do after arrest is to collect money from us. Nothing else is done. They are frustrating use.”
Naijaonpoint reports that the EFCC has recently commenced raids in an attempt to stabilize the naira. During the previous week, the commission apprehended more than 35 individuals suspected of engaging in currency speculation, accusing them of foreign exchange fraud.
In the week that followed, the EFCC publicly displayed over 20 Bureau de Change (BDC) operators who were detained in the nation’s capital.
Despite these measures, the naira’s value has continued to decline.
According to the operators, they purchased the dollar at ₦1,400 and sold it at ₦1,425 per dollar, resulting in a profit of ₦25.
Furthermore, there was a decrease of ₦5 from the ₦1,430 rate recorded on Monday.
One trader, Malam Yahu, expressed dissatisfaction with the market’s instability, mentioning the challenge of predicting future exchange rates.
He said, “Right now the market is just fluctuating, the naira is not stable at all and that’s why we are even sceptical about buying now. We can’t even predict how the market will trade.
“For instance, after today’s arrest, I didn’t buy or make sales to avoid a loss. I bought it earlier today at ₦1,400 and sold it at ₦1,425.
“We have also noticed that once the prices go up, there will be scarcity because they would expect the naira to drop further but if it’s at a loss, they would then rush to sell it off.”
According to data from the FMDQ exchange securities, the official market revealed that the currency depreciated to ₦1,416/$ from ₦1,354/$ recorded at the foreign exchange market on Monday.
This new rate indicates a 4.4 per cent drop or ₦62, which has raised concerns about the rapid fluctuations.
On Tuesday, the intraday high increased to ₦1,445 from ₦1,441/$1 recorded on Monday. Similarly, the intraday low depreciated to ₦1,301/$1 compared to ₦1,285/$1 it traded on Monday.
However, the volume of dollars supplied by willing buyers and sellers increased to $160.77m from $84.3m on Monday.
The previous rate was the lowest point in approximately ten weeks, with a daily turnover of $66.4 million on February 19, 2024.