Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a First City Monument Bank (FCMB) staff member, Gideon Bakpa Aghogho, and his alleged accomplice, Oscar Ebere Chukwuebuka, over an alleged 25,000-dollar illicit access credentials deal.
The defendants were arraigned before Justice F.S.N. Ogazi of the Federal High Court in Lagos on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, unauthorised access to a computer system and unlawful disclosure of sensitive banking infrastructure information.
The EFCC alleged that the defendants disclosed internal IP addresses and domain server credentials belonging to FCMB, which could allegedly facilitate unauthorised access to the bank’s database.
The prosecution said the alleged transactions involved 15,000 dollars and 10,000 dollars.
The charges were said to contravene provisions of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
At the proceedings, EFCC counsel, Bilikisu Buhari, appeared for the prosecution, while N. Egah represented Aghogho and M. Livingstone represented Chukwuebuka.
Patrick Ngbeoma held a watching brief for the nominal complainant.
When the charges were read to the defendants, Aghogho pleaded not guilty, while Chukwuebuka pleaded guilty.
Following Aghogho’s plea, the prosecution asked the court to remand him in a correctional centre and fix a date for the commencement of trial.
The prosecution also requested a date for a review of the facts in respect of Chukwuebuka, following his guilty plea.
Justice Ogazi adjourned the case until Aug. 27 for review of facts and further proceedings and ordered that the defendants be remanded in a correctional centre.
According to the charge, Aghogho allegedly provided his access code to FCMB’s system through the local Administrative Credential (ITSD), which could facilitate access to the bank’s Virtual Centre Platform.
The EFCC alleged that the access credentials were provided between July 24 and July 26 in Lagos with the intention of committing an offence.
In another count, Aghogho was alleged to have, between April and May 2025, knowingly and without lawful authority disclosed FCMB’s server IP address and domain credentials to facilitate access to the bank’s database in exchange for 15,000 dollars.
Chukwuebuka was similarly alleged to have disclosed access credentials, including the bank’s server IP address and domain credentials, for a financial benefit of 10,000 dollars.
The EFCC further alleged that the defendants, alongside another person identified as “Scott”, attempted to use an HP Elite laptop assigned to Aghogho by FCMB to unlawfully access the bank’s database between July 24 and July 26.
The prosecution also alleged that the defendants and “Scott” made attempts to gain unauthorised access to FCMB’s network database.
The remaining counts relate to the alleged retention of proceeds of unlawful activities.
According to the EFCC, Aghogho allegedly retained 2,000 dollars around July 26, while Chukwuebuka allegedly retained 400 dollars, which they allegedly knew, or reasonably ought to have known, were proceeds of unlawful activities.
