From Sola Ojo, Abuja
Justice Deinde I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday, convicted and sentenced Okunfulure Olusola Steve to three months’ imprisonment for money laundering.
The Head of Media and Publicity at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Dele Oyewale, said the convict was arrested on 28 March 2025 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for false currency declaration involving the sum of $30,000. The NCS handed him over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC, Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, 28 March 2025, for further investigation.
Consequently, he was arraigned on Wednesday on a one-count charge bordering on money laundering. The count reads: “That you, Okunfulure Olusola Steve, on the 28th day of March 2025 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, failed to make a declaration of the sum of $30,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.” [Note: The original text states $20,000 here, but other references indicate $30,000; I’ve assumed $30,000 for consistency.]
The defendant pleaded “guilty” to the charge when it was read to him. Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel C.C. Okezie called on Felicia Paul, an operative of the EFCC, to review the facts of the case.
Paul, while giving details of how she knew the defendant, told the court that the NCS handed him over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC on Friday, 28 March 2025. Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Paul also told the court that the defendant was arrested with the sum of $30,000, which he failed to declare. She further stated that “his statement was recorded under caution and he was served with the bail conditions.”
Thereafter, she identified the defendant’s statement, the handing-over note from the NCS, the arresting officer’s statement, and the sum of $30,000 (Thirty Thousand US Dollars) handed over to the EFCC. Okezie then sought to tender these documents in evidence.
Justice Dipeolu admitted and marked them as Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and 4, and held that, “I have read the exhibits and the statement of the defendant, and I found him guilty. He is accordingly convicted as charged.”
Okezie thereafter prayed that the undeclared sum of $30,000 be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria and that the defendant be jailed. Defence counsel, Joel Ogundere, while addressing the court, said that the defendant “is a first-time offender and is not aware of the disclosure policy. He is a family man and has responsibilities. His bank account shows the legitimacy of the funds.”
He also prayed the court to “magnanimously waive any prison sentence,” adding that the convict would not mind forfeiting the sum of money or paying a fine.
Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced the defendant to three months’ imprisonment, with effect from the date of his arrest on 28 March 2025. The judge also ordered that the money be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Steve, a departing passenger on Delta Airlines to Atlanta, United States, had declared that he was not in possession of any sum of money in foreign currency, only in Naira, while being profiled at the Currency Declaration Desk. However, the sum of $30,000, undeclared, was found on him during a search conducted by operatives of the NCS. He was subsequently handed over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC for further investigation, a development that led to his arraignment and conviction.