The Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of Hammed Saka, who was sentenced to three months in prison for unlawfully hawking new Naira notes.
Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi handed down the sentence after Saka pleaded guilty to the charge. The EFCC, in a statement on Friday, noted that the convict was given the option of paying a fine instead of serving the jail term.
The charge read:
“That you, Hammed Saka, on or about the 14th day of December, 2024, at Villa Dome Event Centre, Okotie-Eboh Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, hawked the sum of N800,000.00 (Eight Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.”
Following Saka’s guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, S.I. Suleiman, presented the defendant’s confessional statement along with the money recovered from him and urged the court to convict him as charged.
On March 19, 2025, Justice Faji convicted and sentenced Saka to three months imprisonment with the option of a N100,000 fine.
The Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of Hammed Saka, who was sentenced to three months in prison for unlawfully hawking new Naira notes.
Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi handed down the sentence after Saka pleaded guilty to the charge. The EFCC, in a statement on Friday, noted that the convict was given the option of paying a fine instead of serving the jail term.
The charge read:
“That you, Hammed Saka, on or about the 14th day of December, 2024, at Villa Dome Event Centre, Okotie-Eboh Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, hawked the sum of N800,000.00 (Eight Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.”
Following Saka’s guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, S.I. Suleiman, presented the defendant’s confessional statement along with the money recovered from him and urged the court to convict him as charged.
On March 19, 2025, Justice Faji convicted and sentenced Saka to three months imprisonment with the option of a N100,000 fine. The judge also ordered that the N800,000 recovered from the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
