Lagos court strikes out charge against 19 BDC operators

Justice Lewis Allagoa of a Federal High Court in Lagos, today March 4, struck out the charge against 19 Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators, following the withdrawal of the case.

The BDC operators were charged with conspiracy, unlawfull operation of forex trading as BDC operators without license from regulatory agencies and deriving various sums of money from such unauthorized trading. They were said to have committed the offence around February 21 within the Lagos metropolis.

When the case was called up, counsel to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Panti and member of the prosecution team, Umar Bello, informed the court that he seeks to withdraw the charge against the defendants. Umar said he received a call from his superiors in the office to withdraw the case. He told the court that he would not be proceeding with the arraignment of the suspects.

Justice Allagoa accordingly, struck out the charge. The police had earlier said that the offence contravenes the provisions of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020.

The BDC operators that were to be arraigned before the court were Ibrahim Jubril, Abdullahi Abubakar, Ibrahim Hassan, Adamu Isiaka, Ibrahim Abdulrahman, Jubril Hassan, Mohammed Isoaka, Mohammed Aminu and Adamu Ibrahim. Others  were Hassan Amadu, Salisu Hamidu, Mahmoud Mohammed, Murtala Usman, Hassan Yakubu, Abdullahi Kabiru, Ali Sadam. Ahmadu Yusuf, Abdullahi Hussain and Alhaji Sido.