EFCC probes traveller over $59,000 undeclared cash at Lagos airport

Lagos Airport

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched an investigation into a traveller, identified as Duru Damian, who was apprehended by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for allegedly failing to declare $59,000 in cash.

In a statement on Tuesday, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale disclosed that Damian was stopped by customs officers during a routine inspection at the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Currency Declaration Desk on Monday, August 11, 2025.

The suspect, booked to fly with Emirates Airline to Dubai, had initially claimed to be carrying only $10,000. However, further checks uncovered an extra $49,000, raising the total sum to $59,000.

During the handover of the suspect to EFCC operatives, the NCS Area Comptroller at the airport, E. I. Harrison, reiterated that passengers are frequently reminded to comply with currency declaration rules.

“Announcements are made at intervals on the need for travellers to declare their currencies or equivalents. Electronic signages in the halls also display these messages.

“Yet, at intervals, we also have people who fail to adhere to the extant laws and regulations,” Harrison said.

Receiving the suspect, Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, ACE I Ahmed Ghali, vowed that the agency would sustain its clampdown on offenders.

“We are here to take over one of the recalcitrant Nigerians who do not want to abide by the law in relation to money laundering. But we will not relent in enforcing the law.

“All that we are saying is that laws are meant to be obeyed. So, we will always do our best, in line with our mandate, to ensure that any individual who violates the law does not go scot-free,” Ghali stated.

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