Man sentenced to 6 months in prison for concealing £8,020, $704 at Lagos Airport

Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, May 2, 2025, sentenced Agudosi Okechukwu to six months in prison for failing to declare foreign currency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Okechukwu was apprehended in December 2024 by officials of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) at the Lagos airport for not disclosing £8,020 (Eight Thousand and Twenty British Pounds) and $704 (Seven Hundred and Four Dollars). He was subsequently transferred to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Ikoyi for further investigation.

In a statement released Sunday, the EFCC confirmed that Okechukwu had been arraigned on April 15, 2025, on a two-count charge of money laundering.

One of the charges stated: “That you, Agudosi Christopher Okechukwu, on the 10th day of December, 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable 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.”

Upon being charged, Okechukwu pleaded “guilty.” Prosecution counsel C.C. Okezie then presented EFCC operative Abubakar Magaji to review the case facts.

Magaji informed the court that Okechukwu was in possession of a total of £15,020 (Fifteen Thousand and Twenty British Pounds) and $704 (Seven Hundred and Four Dollars). He explained that while Okechukwu had declared £7,000 (Seven Thousand British Pounds), he withheld £8,020 and $704, claiming he needed the undeclared funds to repatriate his late brother’s remains to Nigeria.

During Friday’s proceedings, Justice Bogoro sentenced Okechukwu to six months imprisonment on each count, with an option of a N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) fine per count. Additionally, the undeclared sums of £8,020 and $704 were forfeited to the federal government.