Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, May 2, 2025, convicted and sentenced one Agudosi Christopher Okechukwu to six months imprisonment for failing to declare foreign currency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
Okechukwu was arrested in December 2024 by operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) for failing to declare £8,020 (Eight Thousand and Twenty British Pounds) and $704 (Seven Hundred and Four Dollars). He was subsequently handed over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation.
He was arraigned on 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 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.”
Okechukwu pleaded guilty to the charges. EFCC counsel, C.C. Okezie, thereafter called EFCC operative Abubakar Magaji to present the facts of the case.
Magaji told the court that the defendant was in possession of a total of £15,020 and $704, but only declared £7,000. He said the defendant concealed the remaining £8,020 and $704, claiming he needed the funds to repatriate his deceased brother’s body.
Justice Bogoro sentenced Okechukwu to six months imprisonment on each count, with an option of a N200,000 fine per count. The undeclared funds—£8,020 and $704—were also ordered forfeited to the federal government.
