One Oluwadarasimi Emma has been detained for allegedly selling new naira notes on social media, according to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The ICPC’s spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, released a statement late Wednesday night in which they accused serial entrepreneur Emma of working with “important players” in the banking industry to illegally divert and sell the new notes.

“The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has today, 1st of February 2023, arrested a woman, Oluwadarasimi Emma, with the Twitter handle Simisola of Lala, offering new naira notes for sale on social media,” the statement reads.

“The arrest was as a result of intelligence received which led the ICPC operatives to seek out and promptly arrest the suspect.

“Oluwadarasimi Emma, a social media ‘serial entrepreneur’ who deals in skincare, sales of fuel, facilitation of foreign travels through visa acquisitions, and other businesses, seized the opportunity of the scarcity of the new naira notes to openly market the new notes.

“It is believed she is in collusion with key elements in the financial services sector diverting the newly released notes away from banking halls and payment channels into a ‘black market’.

“Oluwadarasimi is currently in ICPC detention and is helping the Commission with its findings on the criminal trading of the naira and the attendant scarcity and negative economic outcomes being caused by the action.

“The action is in furtherance of the collaboration between CBN ICPC and EFCC in implementing the new cashless policy and naira redesign.”

This latest turn of events follows similar arrests made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) just days earlier.

According to reports on Sunday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given people an extra 10 days to exchange their old naira notes at commercial banks.

As the January 31st deadline drew near, Nigerians voiced their frustration at not being able to exchange their old notes for new ones.

YNaija