EFCC Probes Man Arrested with Undeclared $59,000 at Lagos Airport

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, has launched an investigation into Duru Ikechukwu Damian, who was apprehended by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for allegedly failing to declare a total of $59,000 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The development was disclosed in a statement via the Commission’s official X handle on Wednesday. According to the EFCC, Damian was intercepted by customs operatives on Monday during a routine inspection at the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Currency Declaration Desk, just before boarding an Emirates Airline flight to Dubai.

Investigators said he declared only $10,000, but a search uncovered an additional $49,000 hidden in his possession, bringing the total cash to $59,000.

During the formal handover to the EFCC on Tuesday, the Area Comptroller of the NCS at the airport, E. I. Harrison, explained that the action was part of ongoing enforcement measures.

“Today, we are having a process that we have been doing over a period of time. When we intercept currencies, we do the needful of handing over to the appropriate agencies of government. We have carried out sensitisation and public announcements. At the airport, announcements are made at intervals on the need for travellers to declare their currencies, and the electronic signages in the halls display these messages. Yet, at intervals, we also have people who fail to adhere to the extant laws and regulations,” Harrison stated.

Receiving the suspect, the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, ACE I Ahmed Ghali, reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to enforcing the law.

“We are here to take over one of the recalcitrant Nigerians who do not want to abide by the law in relation to money laundering. But we will not relent in enforcing the law. All that we are saying is that laws are meant to be obeyed. So, we will always do our best, in line with our mandate, to ensure that any individual who violates the law does not go scot-free,” Ghali said.