First City Monument Bank (FCMB), one of Nigeria’s leading Tier-2 financial institutions, has reportedly lost a staggering sum of N3.09 billion to suspected cybercriminals.
One of the alleged perpetrators, Andrew Odekina, has been arrested and arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over his involvement in the large-scale cyber fraud, which affected multiple customer accounts.
Odekina was brought before Justice Mojisola Dada at the Ikeja Special Offences Court in Lagos.
According to the EFCC, the suspect is accused of retaining proceeds from a coordinated hacking operation that targeted FCMB’s digital banking platform. Investigations revealed that the cybercriminals gained unauthorized access to the bank’s applications, enabling them to divert funds from several customer accounts.
Odekina was specifically charged with receiving and keeping N9.87 million allegedly part of the stolen N3.09 billion in his FCMB account in 2025. The offence is said to contravene provisions of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
The charge further states that Odekina, along with accomplices who are still at large, knowingly maintained control over funds traced to fraudulent digital transactions carried out on the bank’s system.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
During the proceedings, prosecution counsel, Babatunde Sonoiki, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant pending the conclusion of the case. The defendant appeared in court without legal representation.
Justice Dada subsequently adjourned the case until May 11, 2026, for trial and ordered that Odekina be remanded in a correctional facility.