The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced that its Maiduguri Zonal Command has arraigned two Bureau-De-Change (BDC) operators, identified as Ahmadu Haruna and Kabir Iliyasu, for conducting business activities without the necessary license.

The defendants were arraigned on a one-count separate charge before Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu .

The charge against Haruna read, “That you, Ahmadu Haruna, between the month of June 2023 and 2024 in Damaturu, Yobe State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did carry on other financial businesses, to wit, bureau de change business without a license issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria contrary to sections 57 and 59(5) of the Bank and other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.”

However, the defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges raised against them by the EFCC when they were read to them.

The prosecution Counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmad, thereafter, prayed the court for a trial date and to remand the defendants in prison custody. While counsel for the defendants I. Abdulmalik prayed the court to admit his clients to bail pending the determination of the case.

Justice Aminu, in her  decision admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N5,000,000 and two sureties in like sum.

The judge further ordered that one of the sureties must be a traditional ruler or religious leader while the other should be a respected elder and all must be residing in any Local Government Areas of Yobe State.

She adjourned the matter till April 16, 2024, for the commencement of trial and remanded the defendants in Potiskum Correctional Facility pending the fulfillment of their bail conditions.