A First City Monument Bank (FCMB) staff, Gideon Bakpa Aghogho, and his alleged accomplice, Oscar Ebere Chukwuebuka, were on Wednesday arraigned before the Federal High Court, Lagos, over alleged unlawful dealings in the bank’s access credentials.
The suspects were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) along with one “Scott”, who the prosecution said is currently at large, it was reported.
They were arraigned before Justice F.S.N. Ogazi on eight counts of conspiracy, unauthorized access to a computer system, unlawful disclosure of access credentials, attempted interception of a network database and retention of proceeds of unlawful activities.
The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the EFCC said the charges resulted from the alleged illegal provision and use of access credentials that could permit entry to the database of FCMB.
These offenses were reported to contravene the provisions of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act. Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and relevant sections of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
EFCC prosecutor, Bilikisu Buhari, was before the commission, while N. Egah appeared for Aghogho and M. Livingstone for Chukwuebuka. Patrick Ngbeoma appeared for the nominal complainant in a watching brief capacity.
Aghogho pled not guilty to the charges while Chukwuebuka pled guilty when the charges were read to them.
Buhari, following Aghogho’s request, asked the court to remand him in a correctional facility and asked for a date to start the trial.
The prosecutor asked the court to set a date for review of facts after his guilty plea on Chukwuebuka.
Justice Ogazi then adjourned the matter to August 27, 2026, for the review of facts and other proceedings and ordered that the defendants be held in a correctional center.
The charges alleged Aghogho supplied his access code to the FCMB system through the local Administrative Credential (ITSD) which, the prosecution contended, could allow access to the FCMB Virtual Center Platform.
“The anti-graft agency argued that the access credentials were given between July 24 and 26, 2026 in Lagos with the intention to commit an offense.
In a separate count, the commission alleged that between April and May 2025 in Lagos, Aghogho knowingly and without any lawful authority disclosed access credentials, including FCMB’s server IP and domain credentials to enable access to the bank’s database in exchange for $15,000.
Chukwuebuka was also accused of leaking access credentials like the IP of the bank’s server and domain credentials, for an alleged financial gain of $10,000.
The prosecution further alleged that between July 24 and 26, 2026, 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.
The EFCC also said the defendants and “Scott” made attempts to unlawfully access FCMB’s network database. The last two charges concern alleged possession of proceeds of crime.
The charges say Aghogho was in possession of $2,000 and Chukwuebuka of $400 as of July 26, 2026, which the prosecution argues they should reasonably have known was part of the proceeds of unlawful acts.