Nigerian TikToker rearrested for 'abusing' currency

Murja Kunya, 26, was arrested in her native northern city of Kano on Sunday after weeks of evading authorities, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a statement.

Kunya was first arrested in January after an online video showed her throwing naira notes in a hotel room in the city, "violating the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, which prohibits the abuse and mutilation of the naira."

She faces up to six  month in jail if found guilty.

Kunya was granted administrative bail by the EFCC but absconded and failed to appear in court for arraignment, the agency said.

Kunya, who has more than a million followers on TikTok, has repeatedly got into trouble with her online videos, which authorities in conservative northern Nigeria’s largest city Kano deem immoral.

Sharia law is enforced in Kano alongside common law.

She has been arrested and arraigned in court several times.

Kano’s moral police, Hisbah, arrested Kunya in January 2024, accusing her of corrupting children and violating the religious and cultural sensibilities of the Muslim-majority state.

Since last year, the EFCC has been enforcing a 2007 law that outlaws the abuse and mutilation of the naira, including the showering of banknotes at parties and events.

The agency has already targeted several celebrities over a practice officials say disrespects the national currency.

However, critics say the law is being selectively enforced.