The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has sentenced four persons, Ahmad Umar Baros, Aminu Umar Injay, Yusuf Suleimon and Olasunbo Sholanke, to between two to six months’ imprisonment for illegal foreign exchange transactions and unlawful trading of naira notes.
The convicts were arraigned before Justice F.N. Ogazi by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a separate one-count charge.
The charge against Baros reads: “That you, Ahmad Umar Baros sometime in 2026 in Lagos state, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction other than through the official foreign exchange market, thereby committing an offence 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.”
Yusuf Suleimon and Olasunbo Sholanke were separately charged with the illegal sale and trading of naira notes.
One of the charges reads: “That you, Yusuf Suleimon, Olasunbo Sholanke on or about July 25, 2026, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did sell and trade in naira notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 (as amended), and punishable under Section 21(1) of the same Act.”
They all pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them.
Following their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, N.K. Ukoha, Ebuka Okongwu and U.S. Kyari, reviewed the facts of the cases before urging the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.
In his judgment, Justice Ogazi convicted all four defendants, sentencing Ahmad Umar Baros to two months’ imprisonment, while Aminu Umar Injay, Yusuf Suleimon and Olasunbo Sholanke each received six months’ imprisonment, with an option of a N100,000 fine.