A man identified as Celestine has been apprehended by operatives of the Ekiti State Amotekun Corps with counterfeited new N1,000 notes amounting to about N250,000.
Celestine, who claimed he was an Anambra State born Lagos-based businessman, said he was heading from Lagos State to Isanlu in Kogi State to buy kolanut and bitter kola when he was arrested with the fake new naira notes.
The suspect was paraded with the money at the Amotekun State headquarters, Ado Ekiti, where he described himself as a victim of circumstances, saying, “I collected the fake new naira notes from a customer in Lagos State without knowing that they were not genuine.
“Following my arrest, I had tried to contact him for my release, I am still expecting to hear from him,” the suspect said.
Amotekun State Commander, Brig. Gen. Joe Komolafe (retd), said the suspect was apprehended at Omuo Ekiti in Ekiti East Local Government area of Ekiti State by the men of the corps after he had spent some quantities of the counterfeit new N1,000 notes in a local market in the area.
Komolafe said, “Amotekun operatives were alerted by some Point of Sale operators on discovery of the fake new naira notes in the area. On receipt of the information, our men swung into action and arrested the suspect with large quantities of the fake naira notes.
“Our men were reliably informed that the suspect came into the community with about N250,000 fake new N1,000 notes. He is currently undergoing interrogations at our office here. He will be handed over to the police for further probe and prosecution on completion of our investigation on the matter,” Komolafe said.
The Amotekun commander cautioned members of the public to “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.”