Sierra Leonean Arraigned For Failing to Declare $90,000 At Lagos Airport

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday presented its first witness in the ongoing trial of Alhaji Ahmed Shaw, a Sierra Leonean national, accused of failing to declare $90,000 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

The trial, which is being heard before Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, saw the EFCC call Danladi Ibrahim, an operative of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), as its first prosecution witness.

According to Ibrahim, Shaw was intercepted on March 3, 2025, at the airport’s new arrival hall during a routine check.

“I asked where he was coming from and he said Sierra Leone. I then requested his passport. After a search of his hand luggage, we found the money concealed inside,” he told the court.

The NDLEA arrested Shaw for failing to declare the funds and subsequently handed him over to the EFCC on March 5, 2025, for further investigation. He was arraigned on April 3, 2025, on a one-count alleged money laundering charge.

The charge reads, “That you, Alhaji Ahmed Shaw, on the 3rd day of March, 2025 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, failed to make a declaration of the sum of $90,000 (Ninety Thousand United States of America Dollars) to the Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2022.”

Shaw pleaded not guilty to the charge.

When EFCC counsel Z.B. Atiku led Ibrahim in evidence, he stated that Shaw claimed the money was meant for a business trip.

He further revealed that Shaw, his lawyer, the arresting officer, and the exhibit officer were all present when the cash was counted.

The prosecution sought to tender several items as evidence, including the defendant’s statement to the NDLEA, a transfer note from the NDLEA to the EFCC, and the recovered sum of $90,000.

However, the defence objected to the transfer note’s admissibility on the grounds that the witness was not its author. Consequently, the prosecution withdrew the transfer note. Justice Dipeolu admitted the defendant’s statement and the $90,000 as exhibits.