The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command, has engaged stakeholders, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and passengers, among others, to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing.
The event held at the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria Conference Room at the MMIA Wing on Tuesday was themed, ‘Anti-money laundering/counter financing terrorism procedures’.
Speaking during the programme, the Customs Area Comptroller in charge of the command, Effiong Harrison, said the forum is apt, ‘especially as it concerns inward and outward declaration of foreign currencies, negotiable instruments, precious stones or metals at the designated desk of NCS’s Anti-Money Laundering Unit’.
He said since the last sensitisation earlier this year, the command has made remarkable progress on multiple fronts through interventions and engagements with relevant stakeholders and other government agencies, as well as the travelling public.
According to him, this has resulted in the interceptions of non-declaration, false declaration, and under-declaration of currencies with the suspects, which were handed over to the EFCC for further necessary action.
‘As we enter the second half of the year, it is imperative to refresh ourselves and raise the standards in ensuring that Nigeria is elevated back to acceptable International status via robust national security at the premier air border’, he stated.
The Assistant Commander at the EFCC, Ibinabo Amachree, provided legal clarity on what constitutes the offense of non-declaration, stressing that such offenses are considered strict liability under the Money Laundering Act.
‘Whether the suspect knows the law or not, once caught with undeclared funds above the legal threshold, that’s enough for prosecution. The source of the funds is irrelevant, whether legitimate or not; non-declaration itself is the offense’, she noted.
The Chief Intelligence Analyst at the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Yepin Jacob, called on airline operators and airport authorities to step up compliance measures, ‘which includes distributing customs declaration forms in-flight, making regular announcements about currency declaration requirements, and installing visible signage at international terminals’.
The Commander of NDLEA at MMIA, Ahmadu Garba, emphasised that every drug-related case carries a financial dimension and should be treated as a serious threat to national security.
Garba also stressed the importance of pre-arrival intelligence, noting that NDLEA often obtains detailed information about passengers, including their origin, travel history, and financial activity, before they even arrive in Nigeria.
This came as the Nigeria Customs Service, Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, Lagos, handed over under-declared $29,000 to officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
