Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, sentenced Solomon Stephen Ufayo, a staff member of Ecobank Nigeria Plc, to one year imprisonment for cybercrime involving the sum of N2,404,000.
Ufayo was arraigned on May 16, 2025, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge related to cybercrime.
The charge alleged that between March 10 and 28, 2025, while serving as a Relief Teller at Ecobank, he fraudulently posed as a customer, Ogunfodunrin Omowunmi Ajoke, by initiating false deposit and withdrawal transactions on her account.
The charge stated: “That you, Solomon Stephen Ufayo, between the 10th to the 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 and thereby committed 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.”
The defendant pleaded “guilty” to the charge when it was read to him.
Prosecution counsel Abdulhamid L. Tukur then presented EFCC operative David Ngale Gajere to review the facts.
Gajere told the court that Ufayo used fraudulent means to credit Ajoke’s account with false deposits and subsequently withdrew the total sum of N2,404,000 using falsified withdrawal slips.
The money was then transferred into his personal Opay account without the customer’s consent.
According to the EFCC operative, Ufayo made a voluntary statement during the investigation and later issued a bank draft in the amount of N2,404,000 as restitution.
During the sentencing, the convict pleaded for mercy, citing financial hardship due to his wife’s pregnancy as a reason behind his actions.
He told the court he had learned from his mistakes.
After reviewing the submissions, Justice Bogoro sentenced Ufayo to one year imprisonment with an option of a N500,000 fine.
The court ordered that he undertake two weeks of community service.
