Justice S.M. Shuaibu of the Federal High Court in Kano has sentenced a man, Salisu Ahmad, to prison for concealing large sums of foreign currency from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Ahmad was convicted after pleading guilty to a one-count charge of non-declaration of funds, brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The offence contravenes Sections 3(3) and 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
He was found to have failed to declare the following sums: $420,900 (Four Hundred and Twenty Thousand, Nine Hundred US Dollars), £5,825 (Five Thousand, Eight Hundred and Twenty-Five Pounds Sterling), CFA3,946,500 (Three Million, Nine Hundred and Forty-Six Thousand, Five Hundred West African CFA), and CFA224,000 (Two Hundred and Twenty-Four Thousand Cameroonian CFA).
The court ruled that Ahmad deliberately withheld this information from Customs officials, in violation of anti-money laundering laws.
Ahmad was charged with “failing to make declaration” of over ₦653 million worth of foreign currencies he was “transporting… into Nigeria” from Saudi Arabia through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport. The funds included “$420,900, £5,825, CFA3.9 million and Cameroonian CFA224,000”, and the act was said to be “contrary to Sections 3(3) and 3(5)” of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Following his guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, Mustapha A. Maiwada, urged the court to convict Salisu Ahmad for failing to declare over ₦653 million worth of foreign currency at the point of entry into Nigeria.
Justice Shuaibu subsequently found Ahmad guilty and convicted him in line with his plea. The court also ordered that the entire sum of undeclared funds be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Ahmad was intercepted by Nigeria Customs Service officers during a routine screening on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport. A physical search revealed that the large amount of foreign cash had been carefully hidden in a polythene bag wrapped in cloth and stashed inside his luggage.
Upon arrest, Ahmad claimed he was acting on behalf of his brother, Auwal Ahmad, who remains in Saudi Arabia. He was reportedly transporting the funds to two individuals — Yusuf Adamu and Abdulhamid Rabiu — who were arrested upon arriving to receive the money.