Some Bureau De Change (BDC) operators were apprehended by agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday in the Wuse Zone 4 market.
Traders said that during a sting operation, some BDC operators resisted being arrested.
In order to rid the market of arbitrary trading and sanitize it of street vendors, the operatives had started conducting routine raids.
However, on Tuesday, the operation faced resistance, which resulted in gunfire and damage to their cars, as confirmed by two currency dealers who saw the events and spoke with Punch.
One of the traders, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, claimed that the traders had only acted to extract money from them and were frustrated by how frequently they were being arrested.
“EFCC guys came today (Tuesday) to raid and make an arrest, but today’s operation was too strong,” he claimed.
This is the problem that we are having. They arrested traders yesterday (Monday), but when our people attempted to protest the arrest, they were attacked again today and gunshots were heard. They felt irritated and angered. People are growing weary and anxious because they even damaged the EFCC trucks’ glasses today.
An further trader who attested to the incident cautioned that more raids by the anti-corruption organization could result in fatalities.
The trader, who also requested to remain anonymous, stated, “If this goes on like this, they would kill people because the next time they tried to arrest someone, no one would consent and someone else would assemble so that nobody would be arrested.
“That occurred today. People are now turning because, following an arrest, their only activity is to demand money from us. Nothing more is carried out. They make things difficult for us.
