A man named Celestine was arrested by members of the Ekiti State Amotekun Corps with approximately N250,000 in counterfeited new N1,000 notes.
Celestine, who claimed to be a businessman from Lagos and born in Anambra State, said he was on his way from Lagos State to Isanlu in Kogi State to buy bitter kola and kolanuts when he was stopped with fake new naira notes.
The suspect, who spoke at the Amotekun State headquarters in Ado Ekiti, where he was paraded with the money, said, “I collected the fake new naira notes from a customer in Lagos State without knowing that they were not genuine.” He described himself as a victim of circumstances.
The suspect stated, “Following my arrest, I had tried to contact him for my release, and I am still expecting to hear from him.”
Brig. Amotekun State Commander According to Gen. Joe Komolafe (retd), the suspect was apprehended by the corpsmen at Omuo Ekiti in the Ekiti East Local Government area of Ekiti State after he had spent some of the fake new N1,000 notes in a local market.
Komolafe stated, “On discovery of the fake new naira notes in the area, Amotekun operatives were alerted by some Point of Sale operators.” Our men jumped into action as soon as they got the information and arrested the suspect with a lot of fake naira notes.
“The suspect entered the community with approximately N250,000 fake new N1,000 notes,” our men were reliably informed. At this moment, he is being questioned at our office. Komolafe stated, “Upon completion of our investigation into the matter, he will be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.”
“Beware of the activities of unscrupulous persons who may want to use the opportunity of the scarcity of cash in the country to dupe members of the public with fake new naira notes,” the Amotekun commander warned the general public.
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