Forex traders who trade on the street across major cities in Nigeria went into hiding today after a raid by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The raid comes two months after the Central Bank banned street trading of FX and tightened regulations for Bureau De Change operators.
“The EFCC guys came in the morning, I was not there when they came, but many of the traders who came in the morning were arrested,” an FX trader in Port Harcourt who asked not to be named for safety reasons told TechCabal.
Another Forex trader in Gbagada, Lagos, confirmed that all the FX traders in the area were in hiding. “They arrested people in Shitta and Lagos market,” he claimed.
In February, the EFCC arrested over 100 currency traders in Lagos. One month later, the Central Bank revoked the operating licences of more than 4,000 Bureau De Change operators (BDCs).
Today’s raids and arrests are part of several policy actions by Nigerian authorities to restore confidence in its volatile FX markets. While the naira briefly became the world’s best-performing currency in March, it weakened again as the US dollar strengthened against most major currencies.
This week, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) met with blockchain players and asked pleaded with them to stop p2p trading, days after TechCabal reported that a ban was imminent.
The office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) also designated crypto a national issue last week and ordered five fintechs to stop onboarding new customers.
