A 55-year-old Nigerian man, Aremu Adegboyega, has been ordered to leave Ghana after being convicted by a Circuit Court in Accra for smuggling fake CFA francs worth over $100,000 into the country.
Justice Christiana Cann gave the deportation order after Adegboyega was found guilty of possessing forged notes and entering Ghana illegally through an unauthorised border route.
According to Ghanaian police, he was arrested in 2023 at the Aflao border while riding as a passenger on a motorcycle. Officers searched his backpack and discovered counterfeit CFA francs amounting to over CFA 80 million and Nigerian naira worth N101,500.
ASP Isaac Anquandah told The Chronicle that the suspect admitted during investigation that he knew the money was fake. He said he got the counterfeit notes from a man named Alhaji Saibu in Nigeria, under instructions from a mafia figure called Alhaji Dials, believed to be operating from Côte d’Ivoire.
The court fined Adegboyega GH¢3,000 for possessing fake money and GH¢1,440 for entering the country without permission. If he fails to pay, he will serve two years in prison with hard labour. The sentences are to run at the same time.
Authorities say the fake money was smuggled into Ghana from Togo, and the arrest happened at Beat Zero, a known illegal crossing along the Ghana-Togo border.
This comes as another Nigerian, Abu Arome, is also standing trial in Ghana along with three Ghanaians for alleged fraud involving forged documents and fake signatures.
Nigeria’s Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the developments and said the police remain committed to supporting international investigations involving Nigerians abroad.
