EFCC Arraigns Two Over Alleged FCMB System Access Credentials
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned two men before the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegations of unlawfully providing access credentials to First City Monument Bank’s database.
The suspects, Gideon Aghogho and Oscar Ebere Chukwuebuka, were brought before Justice Friday Ogazi on eight charges under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act. A third suspect, identified as Scott, is reportedly still at large.
According to the EFCC, the alleged offence occurred between July 24 and 26 in Lagos. The commission accused the defendants of conspiring to provide access to FCMB’s system using the bank’s local Administrative Credential, known as ITSD.
The EFCC alleged that the credentials could grant access to the bank’s Virtual Centre Platform and were supplied with the intention of facilitating an unlawful act.
The commission further accused Aghogho of disclosing FCMB’s server IP and domain credentials without authorisation between April and May 2025, allegedly to enable access to the bank’s database. He was also accused of receiving $15,000 in connection with the disclosure.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, Aghogho pleaded not guilty to the charges, while Chukwuebuka pleaded guilty.
Following Aghogho’s plea, EFCC counsel Bilkisu Buhari asked the court to remand him in a correctional facility and adjourn the matter for trial. In Chukwuebuka’s case, the prosecution requested time to review the facts following his guilty plea.
Justice Ogazi subsequently adjourned the case until August 27 for a review of the facts and further proceedings. The court also ordered that the defendants remain in a correctional facility.
The case comes months after FCMB reportedly foiled a separate cyber-fraud attempt involving more than N3 billion. In that earlier incident, approximately N677 million was said to have reached the alleged fraudsters before the transactions were detected, while about N2.4 billion was blocked or recovered.
The EFCC has not linked the suspects in the current case to that earlier cyber-fraud attempt.
