On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, the EFCC in Kano succeeded in convicting and sentencing social media influencer Murja Ibrahim Kunya. The verdict was handed down by Justice Simone Amobeda at the Federal High Court in Kano.

Kunya was detained on suspicion of playfully throwing Naira notes around her hotel room at Tahir Guest Palace in Kano.

She was first taken into custody in January 2025 for breaching the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, which forbids the misuse and defacement of the Naira. The Commission granted her administrative bail while awaiting her arraignment at the Federal High Court in Kano.

When her court date arrived, she chose to flee in an attempt to avoid facing the legal proceedings.

 After conducting weeks of thorough investigation and surveillance, EFCC operatives managed to re-arrest the TikTok Influencer on Sunday, March 16, 2025. She was then brought to trial on May 20, 2025, where she admitted guilt to the revised single charge.

The charge against Kunya reads: “You Murja Ibrahim Kunya on the 28th of December, 2023 at Tahir Guest Palace, Kano, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court whilst dancing in one of the rooms at Tahir Guest Palace tampered with Naira notes issued by Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying and matching on same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21 (1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.”

After she entered a guilty plea, the prosecutor, Musa Isah, presented the details of the case and respectfully requested that the court issue a conviction based on those facts.

On Wednesday, Justice Amobeda rendered a judgment convicting Kunya, sentencing her to six months in prison, with the alternative of paying a fine of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira only).

As part of a meaningful and rehabilitative aspect of the sentencing, Justice Amobeda additionally mandated a consequential order that appointed her as an Ambassador for the EFCC and CBN. This role involves participating in online advocacy campaigns against Naira abuse, leveraging her extensive social media following.

The directive requires Kunya to use her social media influence to inform her audience about the importance of respecting the Nigerian currency and the legal repercussions of mistreating or damaging it.