Nigeria Customs say N1m payment by US returnee at Lagos Airport was legal duty, not extortion, amid bribe allegations and PoS account controversy
Customs deny Lagos Airport bribe allegation after a viral report claimed that officers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport extorted N1m from a Nigerian returnee from the United States.
The Customs Service has insisted the payment was a lawful import duty on items brought into the country.
The controversy arose after the passenger, Oke Adhekegba, alleged that two officers of the Nigeria Customs Service, K.O. Adebayo and C.C. Ugboma, demanded N5m upon his arrival and later settled for N1m after a prolonged standoff.
He said the officers offered no official payment channel but used a PoS operator with a private PalmPay account bearing the name Shaaibu Rabiu.
According to Adhekegba, the officers delayed him for hours on May 16, 2025, until about 9 pm before insisting on a cash transfer. He stated that the absence of a government account raised suspicion that the money may have been a bribe. The Foundation for Investigative Journalism, which broke the story, confirmed the details.
In response, the Customs Service issued a statement clarifying that the N1m was not a bribe but a **duty-paid value** on goods brought in from the United Kingdom.
Public Relations Officer of the command, Usman Abdu, explained that Adhekegba arrived aboard British Airways Flight BA-75 and carried ten pieces of luggage containing clothing, 15 pairs of shoes, 22 bottles of perfume, and 12 bags.
These goods, according to the customs valuation, were worth N3,113,574.
The Service said that under the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, the relevant import duties and levies were assessed and summed up to N1,000,004, covering the Import Duty, VAT, Surcharge, ECOWAS Levy, and other standard charges.
A receipt showing payment into the Federal Government account was attached to their statement.
The clarification has done little to dispel public concern, especially over the use of a PoS merchant in the transaction. Experts have questioned whether the Customs Service should rely on intermediaries for such payments.
While customs officials maintain the payment was lawful, the optics of demanding payment through private accounts or informal channels continue to fuel scepticism about transparency at Nigerian ports of entry.
Fresh concerns have emerged over compliance with a court order issued by the High Court of Kano State on April 8, 2026, restraining key parties—including the Honourable Minister of Education, the Kano State Ministry of Land and Physical Planning, the Kano State Urban Development Authority, and Pluck Global Company Limited—from further actions pending the determination of the matter before the court.
Findings indicate that while all parties—except the concessionaire, Pluck Global Company Limited—were duly served within two days of the order, significant challenges were encountered in effecting service on the company, raising troubling questions about its corporate traceability and regulatory vetting.
A review of the company’s records filed with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) revealed addresses that could not be verified as functional business locations. Notably, documentation submitted to Federal Government College (FGC), Kano, dated June 20, 2024, listed two addresses: 8B, Lalupon Street, off Keffi Street, off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, as its head office, and 3 Bargery Road, Bompai, Kano, as its branch office.
However, a physical visit to the Ikoyi address revealed that the entire property is occupied by a company identified as Golden Alchemy, whose staff категорically denied any knowledge of, or shared occupancy with, Pluck Global Company Limited.
Efforts to trace the Kano address yielded even more unsettling findings. The location—a locked duplex—showed no visible signs of commercial activity. Neighbours, while reluctant to speak on record, alluded to irregular movements at odd hours, casting further doubt on the legitimacy of the premises as a corporate office.
In a twist, after multiple attempts to establish contact, an individual purportedly representing the company surfaced in Kano and agreed to receive and acknowledge the court order on April 11, 2026, at approximately 6:00 pm. Curiously, the Ikoyi address—already discredited—was again listed as the company’s official address in the acknowledgment.
These developments raise critical questions regarding due diligence and Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols on the part of the Federal Ministry of Education. They also cast a spotlight on the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), should a concession agreement indeed have been executed with the company. Stakeholders say it would be instructive to review the addresses contained in all official correspondences and contractual documents linked to the transaction.
Meanwhile, a visit to the premises of Federal Government College, Kano, revealed ongoing construction activity, with workers observed excavating foundations. When approached, the workers declined to disclose the authority under which they were operating—despite the subsistence of a court order restraining further action.
Notably, a previously installed project billboard bearing the insignia of the school authorities and the Federal Ministry of Education had been removed. Sources within the institution suggest that the directive for its removal may have emanated from the Ministry following receipt of the court order.
The unfolding situation presents a complex mix of legal, regulatory, and accountability issues—raising the spectre of possible non-compliance with judicial directives, as well as deeper concerns about transparency in public-private concession arrangements.
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