Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, May 2, 2025, convicted and sentenced one Agudosi Christopher Okechukwu to six months’ imprisonment for failure to declare foreign currencies at the Lagos airport.
Okechukwu was arrested in December 2024 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, by operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) for failing to declare the sums of £8,020 and $704. He was subsequently handed over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, Lagos, for further investigation.
He was arraigned on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, on a two-count charge bordering on money laundering.
One of the charges reads:
“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 to the NCS 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.”
He pleaded “guilty” to the charges, following which the prosecution counsel, C.C. Okezie, called Abubakar Magaji, an EFCC operative, to review the facts of the case.
Magaji informed the court that Okechukwu was in possession of a total sum of £15,020 and $704. He declared only £7,000 but withheld £8,020 and $704, claiming he had just lost his brother and intended to use the undeclared funds to repatriate the corpse.
At Friday’s sitting, Justice Bogoro convicted and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment on each count, with an option of a ₦200,000 fine per count. In addition, the sums of £8,020 and $704 were forfeited to the Federal Government.
