A Kano court has handed a prison sentence to Hauwa Abdullahi Ibrahim for attempting to smuggle an undeclared amount of $1,154,900 and SDR135,900 from Saudi Arabia into Nigeria. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) secured her conviction following her guilty plea to two counts of money laundering.
Ibrahim was apprehended by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) after failing to declare the substantial funds as required by law. She was subsequently transferred to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.
During her arraignment, Ibrahim admitted to the charges when they were read to her. In the courtroom, she shared her story, revealing that a man named Nafiu had convinced her to transport a box from Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, claiming it contained only dates and a small amount of cash. Upon her arrival in Kano, she was instructed to hand over the box to a woman, but was later called back by airport authorities for further questioning.
Despite her claims of ignorance regarding the box’s true contents, Justice S. M. Shuaibu convicted her, ordering the forfeiture of the undeclared funds to the Federal Government as stipulated in the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022.
This case underscores the ongoing efforts by Nigerian authorities to combat money laundering and smuggling activities from countries like Saudi Arabia. For more updates on this and other news, stay tuned to Newspot Nigeria.
