The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, arraigned two employees of Premium Trust Bank, Kehinde Odeyemi and Matthew Adeniyi Damilola, before Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Odeyemi and Damilola were arraigned alongside three other defendants: Samson Latshin Dakup, Bolaji Omotosho Yinka, and Sunday Badeniyi Okunola. The five individuals face a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit cyber-related theft.
According to the EFCC, the defendants allegedly conspired to compromise the bank’s IT infrastructure by manipulating its server and domain login credentials in a plot to unlawfully access the bank’s internal systems and siphon customers’ deposits.
The agency, however, intercepted the attempted breach before any financial loss could occur.
One of the charges reads: “That you, Kehinde Odeyemi, Samson Latshin Dakup, Bolaji Omotosho Yinka, Sunday Badeniyi Okunola, and Matthew Adeniyi Damilola, along with individuals identified as Humble (at large), Wasiu (at large), Isa Ismaila (at large) and another referred to as Victor Joshua Ilemona aka Oracle, (at large), conspired unlawfully between April and May 2025 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, to manipulate the access code (this included the bank’s server IP and domain credentials) of Premium Trust Bank Limited in a bid to gain unauthorised access to the entire database of Premium Trust Bank Limited for the purpose of committing an offense to wit: stealing from the bank’s funds, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27 and 28 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (as amended, 2024), which is punishable under Section 28 (2) of the same Act.”
All five defendants pleaded not guilty to the allegations brought against them.
Following their pleas, prosecuting counsel Zeenat B. Atiku requested that the court set a date for the commencement of trial and remand the defendants at a Correctional Centre pending further proceedings.
Adeleke Adepoju, who represented the first defendant, pleaded with the court to consider bail for his client under liberal terms, citing a lack of time to file a formal bail application. Other defence counsel made similar oral pleas for bail on behalf of their clients.
Justice Owoeye, however, declined the oral applications and directed that all bail requests be made formally through the proper legal channels.
He subsequently ordered the remand of Kehinde Odeyemi at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre, while the four other defendants were remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.