Terrorist leader and kidnapper Kachalla Baleri claims he has up to N10m in new naira notes

TERRORIST leader Kachalla Baleri has been filmed displaying wads of new naira notes believed to total up to N10m despite the fact that there is a scarcity of the currency across the country causing great frustration among the populace.

On November 23 last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)launched redesigned ₦‎200, ₦‎500 and ₦‎1000 banknotes, saying the naira was long overdue to wear a new look. Nigerians had been given until January 31 to hand in all old notes, after which time they will cease to be legal tender but the process has been fraught with difficulties, prompting the National Assembly to ask the CBN to extend the deadline.

Under pressure from all angles, Mr Emefiele announced a new deadline is now February 10, revealing that 75% of the N2.7trn ($5.86bn) held outside the banking system had been recovered since the start of the exercise. However, Nigerians are finding it hard to get gold of the new notes, leading to widespread frustration across the country.

While there is a scarcity of the new notes in banking halls across the country, bandit leader, Baleri was filmed in an unverified video released yesterday, claiming he had enough of the new naira notes. Speaking in Hausa in the two minutes 20 seconds video clip, he claimed he had up to N10m of the new naira notes.

Mr Kachalla, one of the 19 bandits/terrorists kingpins declared wanted by defence headquarters in November 2022, also claimed he had enough new naira notes to purchase more weapons. These new naira notes in his possession were the receipts of ransoms he received from relatives of abductees, according to some defence blogs.