Ecobank Nigeria Plc has come under scrutiny after one of its staff members, Solomon Stephen Ufayo, was convicted of cybercrime involving N2.4 million belonging to a customer.
Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, sentenced Ufayo to one year in prison for fraudulently accessing and misappropriating funds from a customer’s account. The court also offered him an option of a N500,000 fine and ordered him to undertake two weeks of community service.
Ufayo, who served as a Relief Teller at Ecobank, 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 bordering on cybercrime.
According to the charge, between March 10 and 28, 2025, Ufayo impersonated a customer, Ogunfodunrin Omowunmi Ajoke, by initiating fraudulent deposit and withdrawal transactions on her Ecobank account. He posted fictitious teller entries and withdrew a total of N2,404,000, which he transferred to his personal Opay account without the customer’s consent.
The charge reads; “That you, Solomon Stephen Ufayo, between the 10th to the 28th day of March, 2025, in Lagos, 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 (No. 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.”
Ufayo pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read in court. The EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid L. Tukur, presented an operative, David Ngale Gajere, to review the facts of the case. Gajere told the court that the convict voluntarily confessed to the crime and issued a bank draft of N2,404,000 as restitution.
During sentencing, Ufayo pleaded for leniency, citing financial hardship and his wife’s pregnancy as the motivation behind his actions. He expressed remorse and claimed to have learned from the experience.
Justice Bogoro, after considering the plea and restitution made, handed down a sentence of one year imprisonment with an option of fine, alongside a two-week community service requirement.
