A Nigerian national, Aremu Adegboyega, has been convicted by a Circuit Court in Accra, Ghana, for smuggling counterfeit CFA francs exceeding $100,000 into the country through an unauthorised border point. He is to be deported to Nigeria following the court's ruling.

Presiding judge, Justice Christiana Cann, directed the Ghana Immigration Service to carry out the immediate deportation.

According to a report by Ghanaian outlet The Chronicle, Adegboyega was arrested in 2023 by customs officers at the Aflao border while riding as a passenger on a motorcycle.

The 55-year-old was charged with two counts of possessing forged currency under Section 18(2) of Ghana’s Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242), and one count of illegal entry.

For possessing counterfeit CFA francs, he was fined 250 penalty units (GH¢3,000). Failure to pay will result in a two-year prison term with hard labour.

Additionally, he was fined 120 penalty units (GH¢1,440) for entering Ghana illegally. If he defaults on this payment, he will serve another two-year term. Both sentences are to run concurrently, limiting the total imprisonment to a maximum of two years.

Adegboyega was caught at an illegal crossing known as Beat Zero on the Ghana-Togo border. His suspicious appearance while carrying a backpack prompted customs officials to search him.

The search revealed several bundles of suspected counterfeit currency, including CFA francs amounting to CFA 80,653,000 and Nigerian naira totaling N101,500.

Authorities confirmed that he smuggled the fake money into Ghana from Togo. In a caution statement, he admitted he knew the money was counterfeit.

He also confessed that the fake notes were given to him by a man named Alhaji Saibu in Nigeria, acting on instructions from a suspected mafia leader, Alhaji Dials, believed to reside in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Adegboyega’s case follows that of another Nigerian, Abu Arome, who is currently on trial in Ghana alongside three local suspects for alleged fraud involving forged documents and fake signatures.