The police in Lagos have withdrawn the criminal charges they filed against 19 Bureau De Change (BDC) operators before the Federal High Court in the state.
Officers from the Police’s State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Panti, had charged the BDC operators before Justice Lewis Allagoa on a six-count charge.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy, unlawful operation of forex trading as BDC operators without a licence from regulatory agencies and deriving various sums of money from such unauthorised trading.
The police had claimed that the defendants committed the offence on February 21 within the Lagos metropolis.
The prosecution also maintained that the offences are contrary to the provisions of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020.
The defendants are Ibrahim Jubril, Abdullahi Abubakar, Ibrahim Hassan, Adamu Isiaka, Ibrahim
, Jubril Hassan, Mohammed Isoaka, Mohammed Aminu and Adamu Ibrahim.
Others are Hassan Amadu, Salisu Hamidu, Mahmoud Mohammed, Murtala Usman, Hassan Yakubu, Abdullahi Kabiru, and Ali Sadam. Ahmadu Yusuf, Abdullahi Hussain and Alhaji Sido.
When the case came up for hearing yesterday, a police prosecutor from the SCID, Umaru Bello, told the court that he want to withdraw the charges against the defendants.
Bello told Justice Allagoa that he received a call from his superiors in the office to withdraw the case.
He, therefore, told the court that he would not be proceeding with the arraignment of the defendants as earlier planned.
Based on the development, the judge, accordingly, struck out the case.
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