Customs arrests professor with $1.1m at Lagos Airport

OPERATIVES of the Nigeria Custom Service, NCS, Murtala Muhammed International Airports, MMIA, Command, Wednesday arrested a passenger with $1.1 million at MMIA, Lagos on his way to Kenya.

This came as the command intercepted over $12.1 million from 14 persons who tried to smuggle money out of the country in contravention of extant regulations in 2012.

Disclosing this development at NCS office at the airport, Area Comptroller, Mr Charles Epowei Edike, identified the passenger as Professor Ofoegbu Charles Ononuju, who claimed to be the director of an oil firm (name withheld). According to Mr. Edike, the professor with passport registration number A04008969 claimed that he was travelling with such a huge amount of money to solve a dispute with Kenya community over oil blocks.

Edike said “the passenger declared the currency both on forms CDF1A and CDF1B, but claimed he was travelling with Kenya Airways flight number QR542 to Kenya, to solve dispute with Kenya community over oil blocks”

The Comptroller noted that the passenger and the currency had been handed over to officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for further investigation.

Giving detail of activities of the command in 2012, Edike said in 2012, the NCS, MMIA Command intercepted over $12.1 million from 14 persons who tried to smuggled money out of the country in contravention of extant regulations.