A famous Nigerian actress was handed a six-month jail term by the court last week for the offence of spraying money during a party she hosted sometime in 2023.
This punishment meted out to the beautiful actress comes as a surprise to many as many Nigerians do not know that spraying money at parties or in a nightclub is a criminal offence punishable with at least 6 months jail term. If everybody who has committed this offence is to be arrested and tried then thousands of persons (if not millions) will go to jail as spraying money and throwing money into the air has come to be an exciting habit that most socialites engage in. People are always eager to spray money at parties; fun has not started in clubs if the “ballers” don’t throw money into the air, people now spray money even in churches. Unfortunately, most of them do not know that such an exciting habit is a crime but as we say in Latin that “Ignorantia juris non excusat” which means that ignorance of the law excuses no one.
Not just spraying money is a crime; anything (at all) that was done that is dishonourable to the naira or that tampers with the sanctity of the Nigerian currency is a crime and it’s punishable with a six-month jail term. Some of these dishonourable acts may include; making money cakes, money flowers or money bouquets, selling money, littering money on the floor, stepping on money, squeezing money, defacing money, washing money, etc.
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This offence was criminalized by the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, particularly in its Section 21. This section provides thus; “A person who tampers with a coin or note issued by the Bank is guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term not less than six months or to a fine not less than N50,000 or to both such fine and imprisonment”.
Subsequently, subsection two went ahead to explain what the word “tamper” means as used in sub-section one; “A coin or note shall be deemed to have been tampered with if the coin or note has been impaired, diminished or lightened otherwise than by fair wear and tear or has been defaced by stumping, engraving, mutilating, piercing, Stapling, writing, tearing, soiling, squeezing or any other form of deliberate and wilful abuse whether the coin or note has or has not been thereby diminished or lightened”. This simply means that whatever is done to have subjected the naira notes or coins to abuse implies tampering.
As Valentine’s Day is around the corner when some lovers go the extra to send their partners money cake, money rose or money bouquet which are all decorated with money, it is pertinent to bring to your attention that such act is a crime as well as provided in S.21 and it is punishable with six months jail term. Using the naira to build a money cake or money bouquet for your lover can land you in jail as it is one of the acts that “tamper” with the currency as provided in section 21(2) of the CBN act, 2007.
