By Obinna Uballa
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reportedly detained four senior officers of the Nigeria Police Force in connection with the interception of $6.1 million in cash at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The officers, identified as CSP Muhammad Safiyan, ASP Desmond Abella, Inspector Suleiman Jubrin, and Inspector Ali Abubakar, were reportedly found to have escorted two men, Mamud Abdulras and Yahaya Nasidi, who were allegedly caught with the undeclared foreign currency.
According to reports, preliminary investigations revealed that the officers claimed they were accompanying the men as “suspects” for an undisclosed operation, a claim now under intense scrutiny by the EFCC.
EFCC sources confirmed to an online medium, SaharaReporters, that the officers have been detained as part of efforts to determine who authorised the escort and the ownership of the funds. A senior female police officer who reportedly received the two men upon arrival on an Ethiopian Airlines flight is also under investigation.
According to official reports, the incident occurred on October 11, 2025, at the Domestic Terminal Two (DT2) of the airport. The report was logged at 7:52 a.m., shortly before the suspects were to board Aero Flight N2121 to Abuja.
Security operatives discovered $6,170,000 (six million, one hundred and seventy thousand dollars) and £15,000 (fifteen thousand pounds sterling) in cash during a search of six intending male passengers.
The discovery raised immediate suspicion of large-scale money laundering, prompting a swift alert to security and anti-corruption agencies. The seized funds were taken in as evidence, while all individuals involved were detained for questioning.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed that the initial suspects, Abdulras and Nasidi, are in custody. He said they were first apprehended by operatives of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS), which later transferred them to the EFCC.
The men were reportedly caught during a routine screening, after officers discovered several boxes packed with cash far exceeding the legal declaration threshold.
Under Nigeria’s anti-money laundering laws, travellers carrying more than $10,000 in cash must declare it to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), a requirement the suspects apparently failed to meet.
