The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has added to the list of offences punishable by law, regarding the new Naira notes.
The bank says money bouquet is now a form of naira abuse.
The apex bank made this known in a tweet on Friday while creating awareness of actions that constitute abuse of the currency.
It listed other forms of naira abuse to include; spraying, selling, squeezing, and defacing.
The apex bank further admonished Nigerians to report cases of naira abuse in the country.
“It is your civic duty to protect the Naira,” the CBN said on Twitter.
Last week, the bank said it would begin to prosecute abusers of the naira in collaboration with other regulatory and law enforcement agencies if such actions violate the law.
The agencies include the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Section 21 (3) of the CBN act 2007 (as amended) stipulates that “spraying of, dancing or matching on the naira or any note issued by the bank during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute an abuse and defacing of the naira or such note and shall be punishable under the law by fines or imprisonment or both”.
Similarly, section 21 (4) states that “it shall also be an offence punishable under sub-section (1) of this section for any person to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the bank”.
The apex bank warned Nigerians, particularly those at social functions, to desist from disrespecting the naira or risk being arrested by law enforcement agencies.
In the same vein, Usman Alkali Baba, the inspector-general of police (IGP), recently ordered the arrest of persons selling or abusing the naira.
Last Wednesday, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arrested a woman for selling new naira notes on social media.