EFCC probes suspect held with $265,000 at Kano airport
An investigation has been launched by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into a traveller who was stopped at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) in Kano State with US$265,000 in cash that had not been declared.
The suspect, identified as Adam Musa Adam, was intercepted by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), according to a statement issued by the EFCC on Tuesday. The interception happened during a routine screening exercise.
Mr Adam, who travelled on a Nigerian passport, was on a flight from New Delhi operated by Ethiopian Airlines, Flight ET941. Customs officials stopped him on Sunday, 26 September.
The statement said his luggage was singled out for a secondary check through Non-Intrusive Inspection Technology, and that the undeclared money was found hidden among his personal effects.
Afterwards, customs authorities formally transferred both the suspect and the recovered exhibits to the EFCC at the Customs area office in Kano.
Speaking at the handover, the Acting Customs Area Controller, Deputy Comptroller of Customs Usman Umar Adamu, said taking foreign currency beyond the permitted limit into or out of the country without declaring it runs afoul of Sections 3 and 4 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, in addition to applicable sections of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
He disclosed that since January, his command had seized undeclared foreign currency and other negotiable instruments whose combined worth exceeds N2.5 billion.
He added that the handover was done in compliance with Section 4(f) of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
Friday Ebelo, the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC in Kano, received the suspect and the exhibits and said the transfer reflected a shared determination to rid the country's financial system of illicit flows. He called the development a clear instance of productive cooperation between agencies, stretching from day-to-day operations at the airport to the decision to hand over the case.
"The EFCC will conduct and carry out its established mandate by further investigating and prosecuting this case to its logical conclusion. In the life of a people, there comes a time that certain institutions become the beacon of hope by safeguarding our economy against illicit financial flows," he said.
Mr Ebelo thanked the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for providing an environment that made the partnership possible. He also commended Mr Adamu and his officers for their alertness and their commitment to enforcing laws on currency movement across borders.
"Let me, on behalf of my Boss, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, thank the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for the sustained partnership," he said.
In recent times, the customs service has handed over a number of Nigerians and foreign nationals to the EFCC after they were found with undeclared funds upon entering the country.
Under the law, anyone travelling with cash exceeding $10,000 is required to declare it to airport authorities.
In March 2025, customs officers at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja seized $193,000 in undeclared foreign currency that had been hidden inside a yoghurt carton.
Two men were arrested in October of that year at Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Lagos with undeclared sums of $6,180 and £53,415.
An Austrian citizen, Kavlak Onal, was intercepted at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, in December 2025 with undeclared cash totalling $800,575 and €651,505. He was arraigned and remanded after entering a not guilty plea to charges brought by the EFCC.
In March 2025, a Nigerian named Okorie Sunday was convicted and handed a six-month prison term, with the funds forfeited, after he failed to declare $299,000 and €100. In a similar case in May 2025, Agudosi Okechukwu, also a Nigerian, was sentenced to six months in prison for attempting to move undeclared amounts of £8,020 and $704.
Others, including Ifunanya Phil-Olumba ($14,567, £1,030, CA$40) and Sierra Leonean Ahmed Shaw ($90,000), have been remanded in custody or are facing ongoing trial proceedings.
to like, bookmark, and comment.
Comments
Join the conversation:
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.