Amid free depreciation of naira, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday arrested operators of Bureau de Change at the popular Wapa open market in Kano.
The raid operation at Wapa came a week after security operatives invaded the street forex market operators at Aminu Kano International Airport, where some of the operators were taken away.
Although, the reason for the invasion of Wapa as confirmed by an operator who narrowly escaped security arrest, is not known yet, it may not be unconnected to free fall of value of naira against the foreign currencies.
In recent times, concerned authorities have accused the foreign currency operators of major cause of speculation in the forex market thereby escalating further weakening of the naira against foreign currencies.
For instance, observation indicated that the naira witnessed a drastic devaluation between Monday and Tuesday this week when it exchanged for between N1,600 and N1,900 per US dollar.
Just yesterday, the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribado directed operatives to intensify efforts against the saboteurs of the forex market amidst government efforts to contain the dangerous trend.
According to data published on the FMDQ website, the naira closed at N1,598.54/$1 in the official market on Monday, compared to N1,537.96 in the previous market on Friday. This represents a 3.94 percent depreciation from the previous market rate.
