ICPC arrests filling station accountant over new Naira notes racketeering

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested an accountant of Oando Filling Station, Dutse Alhaji, in Abuja over alleged racketeering of the new Naira notes.

Spokesperson, ICPC, Azuka Ogugua, who disclosed in a statement on Friday, said the arrest followed the continued onslaught by the Commission on some elements who have taken advantage of the scarcity of the new Naira notes to swindle unsuspecting Nigerians.

Ogugua revealed that the ICPC monitoring team had earlier received a tip-off that the said filling station deliberately disconnected its Point of Sale (POS) services so that motorists could not have access to the Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called Petrol, using their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

“Upon reaching the Petrol Station, the Team found out that motorists were forced to pay for the product in cash, and those without the new notes were directed to a POS operator directly opposite the Filling Station to access the cash.

“ICPC operatives found out that the POS did not only belong to the accountant of the Filling Station, but it was charging a very high exorbitant rate as commission against the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“The sum of One Million Naira (N1,000,000) was discovered with the POS operator which the team directed should be paid into a bank account”, she stated.

The ICPC spokesperson said the accountant was arrested alongside the POS operator, adding, however, that both have been granted administrative bail by the commission.