The National Orientation Agency (NOA), Akwa Ibom Directorate, has alerted the general public to the circulation of fake N1000 notes within the state.
In a statement released, the state director of NOA, Mkpoutom Mkpoutom, listed areas worse hit by the nefarious activities to include the coastal areas of Udung Uko, Mbo, Oron, Okobo and Ibeno Local Government Areas.
Mkpoutom said that there had been confirmed intelligence reports of syndicates flooding the coastal areas with fake N1000 notes. The statement in part reads
“There have been confirmed intelligence reports of syndicates flooding the coastal areas of Udung Uko, Mbo, Oron, Okobo and Ibeno with fake N1000 notes with batch numbers 364232 and 898248 with blurred portraits, watermarks and irregular security features.
The syndicates exploit the peak commercial hours of major local markets in the state to carry out transactions with the counterfeit notes and defraud unsuspecting POS operators and other merchants''
The state director described this heinous crime as unpatriotic and capable of distorting the Nigerian economy and appealed to the public to be vigilant and cooperate with security agencies to bring the culprits to justice.