By Amos Aar
THE Benue State Police Command, Makurdi has said that it has commenced full scale investigation into the allegation of large sums old naira notes of different denominations pounded and packaged in bags at a shop near Police Barracks, Wadata, Makurdi.
News went round with corroborating videos on Tuesday evening that huge sums of money were discovered in one Isah Suleiman’s shop near the barracks.
State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Catherine Sewuese Anene, in a statement about 6 hours after the news became public, debunked the speculation, saying it was not money but “wasted papers” that Isah Suleiman got from the Central Bank for waste management.
Anene who said Suleiman presented a license issued him by the CBN for the business also revealed that the police had taken their investigation to the apex bank.
The statement, entitled: Alleged Recovery of Naira Notes at Wadata, Makurdi; a Misinformation,” reads: “On 13/12/2022 at about 1200hrs, information was received at A Police Division Makurdi, that hidden naira notes were recovered from Police Barracks Wadata.
“Police detectives sent on investigation to the scene recovered wasted papers in a shop close to Wadata Police Barracks, Makurdi. The owner of the shop, Mr. Isah Suleiman was invited for questioning and he tendered a licence issued to him by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for waste management. He added that these wasted papers are usually gotten from CBN and processed into mosquito repellents.
“Investigation has been extended to CBN for confirmation”.
It was not clear whether the wasted papers referred to in the statement are ordinary papers or wasted money notes.
National Record however confirmed that the baked chunks of paper were of naira as pieces of 100, 200 and 500 naira notes were seen on them.
