Nigeria: EFCC Charges Austrian for Failing to Declare $800k, €651k At Lagos Airport

9 January 2026

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, has arraigned an Austrian national, Kavlak Onal for allegedly failing to declare large sums of foreign currency while attempting to travel out of Nigeria.

Onal, who was scheduled to board an Emirates Airline flight to Dubai, was intercepted on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, during a routine check at the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Currency Declaration Desk at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Authorities say he was found in possession of $800,575 and €651,505, which he allegedly failed to declare as required by law.

He was arraigned before Justice Yelim Bogoro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos. The EFCC is expected to continue investigation and prosecution in line with Nigeria's anti-money laundering regulations.

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The statement read as shared on the EFCC social media page, "The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, January 9, 2026, arraigned one Kavlak Onal, an Austrian national arrested by the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, for allegedly failing to declare the sums of $800,575 and €651,505 in his possession.

"He was arraigned before Justice Yelim Bogoro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi , Lagos.

"Onal, who was scheduled to travel on Emirates Airline to Dubai, was on Tuesday, December 16, 2025 intercepted during a routine check at the AML/ CFT Currency Declaration Desk at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos."

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