Court Jails Businessman, Orders Forfeiture of $49,000 Over Undeclared Cash

Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, sitting as vacation judge in Lagos, has sentenced a businessman, Duru Ikechukwu Damian, to three months in prison for failing to declare $49,000 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.

The conviction came on Tuesday after Damian pleaded guilty to a one-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

EFCC counsel, Deborah Adamu-Eteh, reviewed the case through investigating officer Muhammad Adamu Timta, who testified that Customs officials intercepted Damian with the cash on August 11, 2025, while he was preparing to board a flight to the United States. The suspect was subsequently handed over to the EFCC for investigation.

The prosecution tendered the seized money in evidence, which the court admitted without objection.

Delivering judgment, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Damian to a three-month jail term and ordered the forfeiture of the entire $49,000 to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The charge read in part: “That you, Duru Ikechukwu Damian, on the 11th day of August, 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, failed to make a declaration of the sum of $49,000 (Forty-Nine Thousand United States Dollars) to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”