Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Gideon Bakpa Aghogho, a First City Monument Bank (FCMB) staff member, and Oscar Ebere Chukwuebuka, his accomplice, over an illicit $25,000 access credential deal.
The defendants were brought before Justice F.S.N. Ogazi at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The EFCC filed an eight-count charge against the men, bordering on conspiracy, unauthorized system access, and the illegal disclosure of sensitive banking infrastructure details.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants leaked the internal IP address and domain server credentials belonging to FCMB.
The deal was valued at $25,000, split into separate transactions of $15,000 and $10,000.
The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the EFCC indicated that the charges stemmed from the alleged illegal provision and utilization of access credentials that could allow entry to FCMB’s database.
These offenses were reported to violate the provisions of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act. Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, along with pertinent sections of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Bilikisu Buhari, EFCC prosecutor, appeared before the commission, while N. Egah represented Aghogh,o and M. Livingstone appeared for Chukwuebuka.
Patrick Ngbeoma held a watching brief for the nominal complainant.
When the charges were read to them, Aghogho pleaded not guilty, while Chukwuebuka pleaded guilty.
Following Aghogho’s request, Buhari urged the court to place him in a correctional facility and requested a date to initiate the trial.
Regarding Chukwuebuka, the prosecutor requested the court to set a date for the review of facts subsequent to his guilty plea.
Justice Ogazi then postponed the case until August 27, 2026, for the review of facts and other proceedings, and mandated that the defendants be held in a correctional centre.
According to the charges, Aghogho is accused of providing his access code to the FCMB system via the local Administrative Credential (ITSD), which the prosecution claims could facilitate access to the FCMB Virtual Center Platform.
The anti-graft agency contended that the access credentials were provided between July 24 and 26, 2026, in Lagos, with the intent to commit an offense.
In another count, the commission alleged that Aghogho, between April and May 2025 in Lagos, knowingly and without lawful authority disclosed access credentials, including FCMB’s server IP and domain credentials, to facilitate access to the bank’s database in exchange for $15,000.
Chukwuebuka was similarly accused of disclosing access credentials, including the bank’s server IP and domain credentials, allegedly for a financial benefit of $10,000.
The prosecution further alleged that Aghogho and Chukwuebuka, together with “Scott”, attempted to use an HP Elite laptop assigned to Aghogho by FCMB as a working tool to illegally access the bank’s database between July 24 and 26, 2026.
The EFCC further claimed that the defendants, along with “Scott,” made attempts to unlawfully access FCMB’s network database.
The last two charges pertain to the purported retention of proceeds from illegal activities.
As stated in the charges, Aghogho is accused of retaining $2,000 around July 26, 2026, while Chukwuebuka is alleged to have retained $400, which the prosecution asserts they should have reasonably recognized as part of the proceeds from unlawful acts.
