Bank manager arrested for 'hoarding' new Nigerian notes
By BBC
Published
1 min read
The country recently redesigned its currency, but the changeover has not gone according to plan as there are not enough of the new notes to go around.
The Nigerian agency that investigates financial crimes has arrested a branch manager of a commercial bank in the capital, Abuja, for allegedly refusing to load ATMs with cash despite having the redesigned banknotes in the vaults.
The country recently redesigned its currency, but the changeover has not gone according to plan as there are not enough of the new notes to go around.
This has sparked anger and led to spontaneous protests at banks. The deadline for use of old banknotes is on Friday.
On Monday, officers from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stormed the bank and whisked away the operations manager for questioning.
It said the bank had 29 million Naira ($63,000; £52,000) of the new banknotes in its vaults - which officers ordered to be loaded on ATMs.
It's unclear if the arrested bank manager has commented on the accusation, but the commission said some banks were "sabotaging government’s monetary policy".
