NAHCO Disowns Staff Arrested With $8.6m Cash At Airport

The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company PLC (nahco aviance) has distanced itself from the $8.6million intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos on Tuesday. “We wish to state unequivocally that NAHCO as an organization has dissociated itself and has no connection whatsoever with this alleged act,” the ground handling firm said in a statement on Thursday.

Customs officials at the Lagos airport had intercepted the sum of $8.6million (about N3.1billion) from a gang of money laundering syndicate who allegedly assists corrupt government officials to smuggle cash out of the counrty.

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, (rtd), displayed the intercepted foreign currencies at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday. The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, (rtd), displayed the intercepted foreign currencies at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday. Two airport staff, who were simply identified as drivers of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), were arrested in connection with the intercepted cash.

They were said to have been nabbed while moving the cash into the airport. It was learnt that the cash which was stached inside an official vehicle owned by NAHCO was being smuggled into the airport by the suspected NAHCO staff before it was intercepted. The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, (rtd), who had displayed the intercepted foreign currencies at a press conference in Lagos that day, also confirmed that the two persons have been arrested and undergoing investigations.