The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, February 19, 2024, resorted to using firearms in their attempt to salvage the Nigerian currency from total collapse.
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They had stormed the Abuja Zone 4 market, popular for foreign exchange trading, and started shooting sporadically at Bureau De Change operators in an attempt to stop them from selling dollars and other foreign currencies to their customers.
The operatives of the anti-graft agency shot into the air to disperse the BDC operators as the battle to rescue the naira intensified, following the directives of President Bola Tinubu to clamp down on BDC operators.
Today, the exchange rate closed at $/N1,700 at the end of trading at the parallel market while NAFEM closed at $/N1,574.62
As for Pound, it closed at N2,120 at the unofficial market.
Tinubu, after partial removal of subsidy payment, had floated the naira a few days into office, which has backfired, shooting the prices of products by more than 200 per cent less than a year in office.
Will the raid on BDC operators rescue the Naira from further fall?
We’ve seen instances where men of God prayed for the naira to appreciate against its pairs, but prayer nor force can prevent the Naira’s decline.
Economic indicators, not guns, hold the key to its stability. Resorting to force may further undermine the Naira’s value.
It is not the first time the government has used force to rescue the collapse of the Nigerian currency from total collapse.
During the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the governor of Nigeria’s apex bank Godwin Emefiele in 2021 had threatened to arrest the operator of an online platform that publishes naira’s exchange rates, AbokiFX, accusing him of being responsible for depreciation of the naira.