Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, June 16, 2025, convicted and sentenced Solomon Stephen Ufayo, a staff member of Ecobank Nigeria Plc, to one year imprisonment for cybercrime involving N2.4 million.
Ufayo was arraigned on Friday, May 16, 2025, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a one-count charge bordering on cybercrime to the tune of N2,404,000 (Two Million, Four Hundred and Four Thousand Naira).
The charge reads:
“That you, Solomon Stephen Ufayo, between the 10th and 28th day of March, 2025, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while working for Ecobank Nigeria Limited as a Relief Teller, fraudulently represented yourself as Ogunfodunrin Omowunmi Ajoke by posting false deposit and withdrawal tellers on her Ecobank account number 2801086259, with intent to gain advantage for yourself, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 22(2)(b)(i) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22(2)(b) of the same Act.”
Upon the reading of the charge, the defendant pleaded guilty.
Prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid L. Tukur, then called EFCC operative David Ngale Gajere to present the facts of the case. Gajere told the court that Ufayo, in his capacity as a Relief Teller, impersonated a customer, Miss Omowunmi Ajoke, and posted false deposit entries on her Ecobank account. He then withdrew a total of N2,404,000 using falsified withdrawal slips and transferred the funds into his personal Opay account, all without the customer’s knowledge or consent.
Gajere further disclosed that Ufayo made a confessional statement and returned the stolen sum via a bank draft as restitution.
During the sentencing, Ufayo pleaded for mercy, citing financial pressure due to his wife’s pregnancy at the time of the offence.
“I was still in custody when my wife gave birth. I have learnt my lesson,” he said.
Justice Bogoro convicted and sentenced him to one year in prison with an option of a N500,000 fine. The court also ordered him to undertake a two-week community service.
The conviction stemmed from Ufayo’s fraudulent use of his position at Ecobank to impersonate a customer and siphon funds into his personal account—an act that violated the Cybercrime Act of 2015.