Court jails man for failing to declare cash at airport

The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos State, has convicted and sentenced a man to six months imprisonment for failing to declare foreign currencies at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

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According to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Sunday, the operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) arrested Agudosi Okechukwu in December 2024, for refusing to declare £8,020 and $704 at the airport.

The NCS handed Mr Okechukwu to the anti-graft agency for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The EFCC then charged the defendant with two counts of money laundering and subsequently arraigned him on 15 April.

One of the offences was said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 stipulates that any individual who falsely declares or fails to declare funds or negotiable instruments to the Nigerian Customs Service, as required under the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, commits an offence.

The law requires individuals arriving in Nigeria to declare any foreign currency or negotiable instruments exceeding $10,000 or its equivalent to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

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Mr Okechukwu pleaded guilty to the charges after which the judge sentenced him to six months in jail with an option of N200,000.

Background

PREMIUM TIMES reported the arraignment of Mr Okechukwu in April.

Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, C.C. Okezie called on Abubakar Magaji, an operative of the EFCC, to review the facts of the case.

Mr Magaji told the court that the NCS handed over the defendant to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC, Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, Lagos, for further investigation.

He further told the court that the defendant’s statement was recorded under caution.

He said the defendant failed to make the declaration because he claimed to have suffered a loss and was going to bring back the corpse of his brother.

He submitted the death certificate of his brother, his brother’s pictures and other documents.

Thereafter, Magaji identified the defendant’s statement, the handing-over note from the NCS , the arresting officer’s statement as well as the sums of £8020, and $704 to the EFCC.

The prosecution lawyer then tendered the items in evidence.

The judge, Mr Bogoro, admitted and marked them as exhibits P1-P11.

The judge adjourned the case till 2 May for judgement and ordered that the defendant be remanded in a correctional centre.

Other cases of non-declaration of funds

Some travellers have disobeyed the law that mandates the declaration of funds exceeding $10,000 on arrival into the country.

The law was put in place to curb the suspicious movement of funds.

In March, Ms Ibrahim was convicted of smuggling over $1.15 million and SDR 135,900 (Saudi Riyal) from Saudi Arabia into Nigeria.

Pleading allocutus (pleading for mercy), Ms Ibrahim narrated that she was deceived into bringing a box containing the undeclared funds into Nigeria, trusting the owner.

Ms Ibrahim recounted how she was approached by a man, Nafiu, in Saudi Arabia to enlist her help in carrying a box to Nigeria to a woman whose name was not disclosed.

In April, PREMIUM TIMES reported how a Sierra Leonean national, Ahmed Shaw, was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, for failing to declare $90,000 in cash at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.