A Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja on Tuesday ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Fidelity Bank Plc to produce key evidence, including CCTV footage and system records, in the ongoing trial of a former bank worker accused of involvement in an alleged N1m fraud.
The trial judge, Justice Ismail Ijelu, gave the directive after the defence opened its case and insisted that the materials were necessary to establish the truth behind the allegations. The case was subsequently adjourned till May 14, 2026, for continuation of trial.
The defendant, Chukwuebuka Nweke, a former customer service representative at Fidelity Bank, is facing prosecution by the EFCC over claims that he unlawfully accessed a customer’s account and facilitated fraudulent withdrawals.
Nweke was arraigned under Charge No. ID/26820C/2025 on allegations of unauthorised access with intent to commit fraud, an offence said to be contrary to Section 386(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
According to the prosecution, Nweke allegedly accessed a desktop computer assigned to another staff member, Emmanuella Anyanwu, on June 21, 2025. The EFCC claimed that this action enabled the unauthorised withdrawal of N1m from the account of a customer, identified as Leelee Dumbari.
At the resumed hearing, EFCC counsel, Adewale Bashir, represented the prosecution, while the defence was led by Chris Ejioffor.
Opening his defence, Nweke denied any involvement in the alleged crime and told the court that he had been wrongly accused.
He explained that the workstation mentioned in the charge was not assigned exclusively to any single staff member. According to him, employees working night shifts at the bank’s contact centre often used any available computer to attend to customers.
“The system is not for one person. Anybody on duty can use any available workstation,” he told the court.
Nweke further narrated how the issue began during one of his night shifts. He said he received a call from a customer who complained about an unauthorised withdrawal of N500,000 from her account.
“The customer told me she had gone to a nightclub and was robbed on her way back. After that, withdrawals started from her account,” he said.
He added that during the call, the customer also revealed that she had earlier lost her phone and had visited the bank to change her registered phone number. This, he said, raised concerns that her account might have been compromised.
According to him, he immediately reported the situation to his supervisor after the call, as required by the bank’s procedures.
Nweke told the court that while he was still attending to the complaint, the customer informed him that another N500,000 had been withdrawn from her account, bringing the total to N1m.
He said he quickly took steps to restrict the account to prevent further losses, noting that his role only allowed him to initiate the process, which would then require approval from a supervisor.
“I did what I was supposed to do. I escalated the issue and started the restriction process,” he said.
Addressing the allegation that he used a colleague’s system to carry out the fraud, Nweke admitted that he briefly assisted Emmanuella Anyanwu to sign out of a computer when she stepped away. However, he denied using the system for any illegal activity.
“I only helped her log out. I never used any system to carry out fraudulent transactions,” he stated.
The defendant told the court that he was surprised when he was later invited by the bank’s internal investigation unit and accused of involvement in the fraud.
He also linked the allegation to another case involving a N23m transaction allegedly meant for solar panel payments, which he said he knew nothing about.
“I have no connection to the N23m transaction. I did not benefit from it,” he insisted.
Nweke further alleged that during the bank’s internal investigation, he was pressured to ensure that the disputed N1m was repaid to avoid further escalation of the matter.
“My Lord, I was told that if the money was paid, the issue could be resolved,” he said.
He told the court that his younger brother eventually sold part of their mother’s land to raise the N1m required.
“My younger brother sold part of my mother’s land to raise the money,” he said, adding that the decision was made in an effort to settle the issue.
The defendant also made serious allegations about his treatment while in EFCC custody. He claimed that he was detained for five months and was not given access to a lawyer or his family during that period.
According to him, his mobile phone was seized, and he was made to write statements without proper legal support.
Nweke said he had to rely on another detainee to contact his family. He explained that he wrote his brother’s phone number on a piece of paper and asked the individual to pass the message along after his release.
“My family is based in the East, and I am the only one in Lagos. That was the only way I could reach them,” he said.
He added that when his brother eventually came to the EFCC office, he was initially denied access until he insisted on seeing him.
After learning about the situation, Nweke’s brother arranged the sale of family land to raise the N1m, which was then paid as directed by investigators.
However, the defendant told the court that the money was not paid directly to the alleged victim but through a bank draft issued in the name of the EFCC.
“They asked that the money be paid in the name of the EFCC, not the customer,” he said.
Despite making the payment, Nweke said he was not released, a development he described as unfair.
Maintaining his innocence, he told the court that he did not benefit from the alleged fraud and had been falsely implicated.
Following his testimony, his lawyer, Chris Ejioffor, urged the court to compel both the EFCC and Fidelity Bank to produce key evidence, including CCTV footage and system records from the bank’s contact centre.
He argued that the materials would provide a clear picture of what actually happened and help the court arrive at a just decision.
“The CCTV footage and system records will show clearly what transpired,” the defence counsel said.
Justice Ijelu agreed with the request and ordered that the EFCC and the bank produce the requested documents and video evidence at the next hearing.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about fraud in Nigeria’s banking sector, especially cases involving electronic transactions and internal systems. Financial institutions in the country have in recent years strengthened their security measures, including the use of surveillance cameras and digital logs, to track activities and prevent unauthorised access.
The EFCC, Nigeria’s main anti-corruption agency, continues to investigate and prosecute cases involving financial crimes, particularly those linked to banks and electronic fraud.
With the court now demanding crucial evidence, attention will shift to the next hearing, where the materials are expected to shed more light on the case and determine the direction of the trial.