An accountant of Oando Filling Station in Abuja, Dutse Alhaji, has been arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, over alleged racketeering of the new Naira notes.
The Commission’s spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, made the disclosure in a statement on Friday.
Ogugua said the latest arrest followed the continued onslaught by the Commission on some elements who have taken advantage of the scarcity of the new Naira notes to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.
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 using their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.
Upon reaching the Petrol Station, the team discovered that motorists were forced to pay for the product in cash. Those without the new notes were directed to a POS operator directly opposite the Filling Station to access the money.
ICPC operatives found out that the POS did not only belong to the accountant of the Filling Station but it was charging exorbitant rates 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.
The accountant was arrested alongside the POS operator and the Commission has granted both administrative bail.