The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has challenged Nigerians to join the fight against hawking or selling of new naira notes at parties and other social gatherings by reporting any deposit bank and its officials involved in the despicable new bank notes trade.

The CBN admitted the trade of new naira notes has bank insider involvement, saying that the hawkers or sellers won?t be in the illegal bank notes trade if there were no insider ? suppliers from the deposit commercial banks.

The CBN head of Currency Operations and Branch Management, Paul Onuoha, who stated this on Thursday, at the CBN Fair, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, advised the public to be vigilant and report any commercial bank and its officials supplying new naira notes to sellers/hawkers to the CBN or security agencies.

He said any bank caught aiding and abetting bank notes trade will be slammed with N150m fine without clemency, warning that if such illegality was traced to multiple branches of the same bank, the affected bank would pay N150m to extent of number of its branches involved.

Also speaking, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, the Ag. Director, CBN Corporate Communications Department, said the nation?s currency is an important national symbol which must be handled with the utmost care by Nigerians, insisting CBN would not allow anyone to spray, hawk, mutilate or counterfeit the Naira.

Ali said the CBN has renewed its commitment towards ensuring availability of clean currency and Naira, urging Nigerians to see the Naira as a critical symbol of national unity that should be respected and kept it clean always.

?The CBN will continue to ensure availability of clean currency. We, however, urge you to see the Naira as our critical symbol of national identity. Respect and keep it clean. Do not spray, hawk, mutilate or counterfeit the Naira,? she stressed. (The Nation)

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