Zamfara terrorists demand ransom in new naira note.
As President Buhari and Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele unveiled the newly redesigned naira notes yesterday November 23, and many Nigerians wait anxiously to “detty this December” with the newly minted banknotes, terrorists and bandits alike, are not left out in the anticipation of who gets to spend the new naira first.
What do you mean?
Suspected terrorists that abducted four persons including a man, a woman, and two children in Kolo village, in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State have told families of their victims that they want their ransom paid with the new naira notes.
An indigene of the area, Mohammed Ibrahim told Punch Metro that the suspected terrorists had earlier demanded the sum of 10 million naira as ransom, but later reduced it to 5 million naira, instructing that the money should not be paid with the old naira notes. Ibrahim added that the people of Kolo village have been running around to raise the money to secure the release of the abducted victims.
“As we were trying to gather the money demanded by the terrorists, they sent another message this morning that they would not collect old naira notes.
“They said they would keep the abducted persons in their camps until the release of the new naira notes in December”, he said.
New naira notes fortified against counterfeiting
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that the new naira notes have been fortified with security features that make it difficult for them to be counterfeited.
Speaking shortly after the unveiling of the new naira notes at the State House Abuja, President Buhari said the redesigned notes were produced in the country by the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Plc, adding that the new banknotes would help CBN to design and implement better monetary policy objectives, as well as enrich the collective memory of Nigeria heritage.
The president also noted that redesigning of naira was long overdue and expressed hope that the new notes would address the urgent need to take control of currency in circulation while addressing the menace of hoarding banknotes outside of the banking system and curb the shortage of clean and fit banknotes in circulation.
