Man Jailed, Forfeits £8,020 And $704 For Currency Smuggling At Lagos Airport

Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, May 2, 2025, convicted and sentenced one Agudosi Christopher Okechukwu to six months imprisonment for failing to declare foreign currencies totaling £8,020 (Eight Thousand and Twenty British Pounds) and $704 (Seven Hundred and Four Dollars) at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Okechukwu was apprehended in December 2024 by operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) for failing to declare the funds as required by law. He was subsequently handed over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation and prosecution.

He was arraigned before the court on April 15, 2025, on a two-count charge bordering on money laundering, to which he pleaded guilty.

One of the charges read: “That you, Agudosi Christopher Okechukwu, on the 10th day of December, 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, failed to make a declaration of the sum of £8,020 (Eight Thousand and Twenty Pounds Sterling) to the Nigerian Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

Prosecution counsel, C.C. Okezie, presented EFCC operative Abubakar Magaji, who reviewed the facts of the case. Magaji told the court that the total amount in Okechukwu’s possession was £15,020 and $704, but only £7,000 was declared. The remainder, according to Okechukwu, was intended to be used in transporting his deceased brother’s corpse back to Nigeria.

Following his guilty plea, Justice Bogoro sentenced Okechukwu to six months imprisonment on each of the two counts, with an option of a N200,000 fine per count. In addition, the undeclared £8,020 and $704 were ordered forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.