Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday, raided a Bureau De Change (BDC) hub at Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.
The action by the anti-graft agency might not be unconnected with the current crisis in the foreign exchange market, which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said is fuelled by speculation, and has seen the naira exchanging for about N715/$ at the parallel market.
ChannelsTV reported the raid to be a covert operation to dislodge currency speculators who are alleged to be massively mopping up available foreign currencies.
An anonymous source said that the raid by the EFCC is a product of weeks of surveillance in which agents of the anti-corruption agency have been monitoring the activities of most of the Bureau de change operators in the Wuse 4 axis.
It was learnt that foreign exchange traders in Abuja buy dollars cheaper and sell high, especially to politicians, who can buy at any rate unlike businesses.
The EFCC is reported to be working on intelligence that some forces with massive inflow of naira have mobilised resources and are busy buying up available foreign currencies, especially the US dollar, to either hoard or smuggle same out of Nigeria.
Operatives of the Commission are also reportedly keeping vigilance at major airports in the country, as part of a coordinated nationwide operation that will be extended to all the major commercial cities such as Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt.
