The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched an investigation into Duru Ikechukwu Damian, a passenger who was arrested by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for allegedly failing to declare $59,000 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
This was made known via the Commission’s official X handle on Wednesday.
According to the EFCC, Damian was intercepted by customs operatives on Monday, during a routine check at the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Currency Declaration Desk. He was scheduled to travel to Dubai on an Emirates Airline flight.
The suspect reportedly declared only $10,000, but a search revealed an additional $49,000, bringing the total amount in his possession to $59,000.
During the formal handover to the EFCC on Tuesday, the Area Comptroller of the NCS at the airport, E. I. Harrison, said the process 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 said.
Receiving the suspect, the Acting Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC, ACE I Ahmed Ghali, stressed the Commission’s resolve to uphold 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.
