"six months imprisonment with an option to pay $250 fine"
I wonder what would have happened if she'd lit a cigar with a 1000 niara note.
From a Nigerian source: "It was at a time there was a severe scarcity of Naira notes following the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s withdrawal of old 200, 500 and 1000 Naira notes from circulation and replacement of the affected currency notes with newly designed versions which were hard to come by at the time." I'm guessing that flaunting wealth that way when the economy was in a mess from lack of currency was what led them to charge her with currency defacement. Not because she'd done anything substantively wrong, just that she'd angered a lot of people...
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GAMA: Answer me this:
What think you of a wealthy purse-proud man,
Who, when he calls upon a starving friend,
Pulls out his gold and flourishes his notes,
And flashes diamonds in the pauper's eyes?
What name have you for such a one?
HILDEBRAND: A snob.
GAMA: Just so.
-- Gilbert and Sullivan, Princess Ida
Yes, King Gama was simply setting up another zinger, but the principle holds.
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