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.

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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.

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The matter has reignited calls for full digitisation of customs clearance procedures and independent oversight of airport officers.