FAAN official nabbed over attempt to smuggle N288m cash

AN official of the Directorate of  Aviation Security (AVSEC) of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Akin Adetula, has been nabbed for attempting to smuggle N288 million ($1.8 million)  through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on Saturday evening.

The suspect was said to have been arrested about 3:45p.m. while attempting to smuggle the money through a Middle East-bound airline.

It was learnt that the AVSEC personnel was neither on duty nor on official assignment at the time of his arrest by security personnel at the Customs Currency Declaration Desk who handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigations to know how he came about such a huge amount of money.


Confirming the story, General Manager, Corporate Communications at FAAN,  Yukubu Dati, said: “The Authority wishes to commend the joint efforts of the EFCC, Customs, Police and other security personnel, who aided his arrest, and to assure them of its unalloyed assistance in unraveling this financial crime, particularly as the staff was acting on his own accord.

“We wish to also assure the public that FAAN is committed to restructuring the organisation to purge it of all dishonourable characters as it transforms into a modern and efficient entity”.

Meanwhile, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested Idris Hamza and Umar Musa Kibiya at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, for false declaration of fund and illegal possession of N17.1 million ($107,000).

Hamza and Kibiya, according to the acting Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, were arrested at the airport during a special task force operation.

Hamza, who was caught with $27,000, claimed he was a student and was en-route to Egypt while Kibiya, who had $80,000 concealed in his bag, said he was on a business trip to Dubai.

While Hamza only declared $3,000, Kibiya declared only $40,000. 

The suspects, according to Uwujaren, were, however, unlucky when they got to the EFCC final check point at the airport and were caught by the eagle eye of the operatives.

The suspects, who have given useful information, the EFCC said, will be charged to court soon.

They will be docked under Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap.F34 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and Section 2(5) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011.