FAAN staff arrested with $1.4million In Lagos

A suspected foreign currency smuggler was arrested on Saturday at the Murtala Muhammed international airport in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, for attempting to smuggle out $1.4 million, said Yakubu Dati, General Manager, Corporate Communications at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN.


P.M.NEWS learnt that the suspect was identified as Mr. Akinyele Adetula, an official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN.

Dati said the suspect, who is an employee of the security directorate ,was neither on duty nor on official assignment.

“He was consequently accosted by security personnel at the Customs Currency Declaration Desk and has since been handed over to the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) custody for investigation.

“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 unravelling 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,” Dati said.

Many questions are likely to be asked about the origin of the money and how a staff of FAAN, an agency in crisis, could gather more than N220 million.