Counterfeit N1,000 Notes Hit Borno Markets, Traders Count Losses

Traders in parts of Borno State have raised the alarm over the circulation of counterfeit N1,000 notes, warning that the development is causing financial losses and eroding confidence in cash transactions across rural markets.

The affected traders, operating mainly in Kwaya Kusar, Biu and Bayo Local Government Areas, said they were increasingly receiving fake notes during routine transactions, with some discovering the currency only after leaving the markets.

The alarm was raised by traders who spoke separately with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kwaya Kusar on Saturday.

One of the affected traders, Ibrahim Yusuf, a grain dealer from Gombe Main Market, said counterfeit notes had hit him twice while purchasing maize in Borno markets.

Yusuf said he received four fake N1,000 notes about three weeks ago while buying bags of maize at Biu Grain Market, but only discovered the first suspicious note while travelling and preparing to pay a driver.

According to him, further checks revealed that three additional N1,000 notes in the cash he received were also counterfeit.

Yusuf said the losses were significant for small-scale traders whose profit margins are already narrow.

“My profit is not much, as I make between N3,000 and N4,000 per bag after taking out transportation costs,” he said, explaining that the N4,000 in counterfeit notes had substantially reduced the expected profit from his three-bag purchase.

He called on relevant authorities to investigate the source of the fake currency and intensify surveillance in markets across Biu, Kwaya Kusar and Shani.

Yusuf said urgent intervention was particularly important as farmers enter the harvest period, which is expected to increase the volume of agricultural transactions across the markets.

Another trader, Alhaji Hassan Mai-Dawa, said he encountered counterfeit N1,000 notes after withdrawing cash from a Point-of-Sale (POS) operator in Kwaya Kusar.

He said the notes were only identified when he attempted to deposit the money at a bank.

Mai-Dawa explained that the dependence on cash in the area was making traders vulnerable, particularly because many merchants still do not accept bank transfers for commodity purchases.

He said the problem was not limited to Kwaya Kusar, adding that he had encountered similar fake notes in Biu Market.

A rice trader, Mrs Hauwa Aminu, also recounted receiving unusually new N1,000 notes but said she initially paid little attention because other traders and customers continued to accept them.

She said the problem eventually affected her relationship with a customer who rejected some notes she had given him as change and demanded a refund.

The incident, she said, resulted in an argument and ultimately led to the customer stopping purchases from her shop.

Aminu urged authorities to extend monitoring and enforcement operations to rural markets, identify those responsible for introducing the counterfeit currency and make arrests where necessary.

The traders warned that unless the circulation of the fake notes is checked, more small businesses could suffer losses while mistrust between buyers and sellers could deepen.

They also called for greater public awareness to help traders identify counterfeit currency before accepting cash, particularly during the peak trading period associated with the ongoing harvest season.