The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned Gideon Bakpa Aghogho and Oscar Ebere Chukwuebuka before the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, over allegations that they unlawfully supplied access credentials to First City Monument Bank in exchange for $15,000.
The defendants were arraigned by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 before Justice F.N. Ogazi on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the Commission on Thursday.
The Commission said the alleged offences contravene Sections 27 and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.
The defendants were arraigned alongside one Scott, who is currently at large, on an eight-count charge bordering on the alleged unlawful supply of access credentials to a bank database.
One of the counts reads, “That you, GIDEON BAKPA AGHOGHO, OSCAR EBERE CHUKWUEBUKA, along with an individual identified as SCOTT (at large), conspired unlawfully between 24th and 26th July 2026 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, by supplying for use the access code of GIDEON BAKPA AGHOGHO to the FCMB system using the local Administrative Credential (ITSD), which is capable of allowing access to the FCMB Virtual Center Platform, with the intention of committing an offence, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 27 and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and punishable under Section 28(2) of the same Act.”
In another count, Aghogho was accused of knowingly and without authorisation disclosing access credentials, including FCMB’s server IP and domain credentials, to facilitate access to the bank’s database in exchange for $15,000.
After the charges were read to the defendants by the court registrar, Aghogho, the first defendant, pleaded not guilty, while the second defendant pleaded guilty to the charges.
Following the first defendant’s not-guilty plea, EFCC counsel Bilkisu Buhari asked the court to set a date for trial and ordered that he be remanded in a correctional facility.
For the second defendant, the prosecution requested a review of the facts of the case following his guilty plea.
Justice Ogazi subsequently adjourned the matter until August 27, 2026, for a review of the facts and further proceedings.
The court also ordered that the defendants be remanded at a correctional centre.
Get up to speed
Nigeria has been identified as both a major target of cyberattacks and a significant source of cyber-enabled financial crime in Africa.
The finding is contained in the INTERPOL African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026, which highlights Nigeria’s complex position within the continent’s rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape.
The report found that Nigerian government agencies and businesses are increasingly being targeted by ransomware attacks, while criminal networks operating from the country remain prominent in business email compromise schemes and international money laundering.
Nigeria was identified as one of Africa’s ransomware hotspots, recording 5,822 detections in 2025.
INTERPOL also warned that cybercriminal groups based in Nigeria have expanded beyond online fraud into more sophisticated international money laundering operations.
