COURT ADJOURNS TRIAL OF FIDELITY BANK STAFF, ORDERS EFCC, BANK TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTS, CCTV EVIDENCE

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

The defendant, a baker from the Ileejo area of Lekki, Lagos, is being tried for sexual assault.

Justice Ismail Ijelu of the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has adjourned the trial of a Fidelity Bank staff member, Nweke Chukwuebuka, to allow the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the bank to produce key documents and video evidence requested by the defence.

Nweke is standing trial in Charge No. ID/26820C/2025 over allegations of unauthorised access to a customer’s account with intent to commit fraud, contrary to Section 386(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The adjournment followed the opening of the defence, during which the defendant denied involvement in the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of N1 million from a customer’s account, insisting he was wrongly implicated.

According to the amended charge, Nweke allegedly accessed a desktop computer assigned to a colleague, Emmanuella Anyanwu, on June 21, 2025, thereby facilitating the unauthorised withdrawal from the account of one Leelee Dumbari domiciled with Fidelity Bank.

At the resumed hearing, EFCC counsel, Adewale Bashir, appeared for the prosecution, while Ejiofor represented the defendant.

While testifying, Nweke told the court that the workstation linked to the transaction was not exclusive to any staff member, explaining that multiple employees on night shift often used available systems depending on assigned customer calls.

He said that on the day of the incident, he experienced network issues on his system and attempted to reconnect in order to continue attending to customer complaints.

The defendant further told the court that he later received a call from the account holder, who reported a debit alert. According to him, his inquiries revealed that the customer had earlier lost her phone and requested a change of the phone number linked to the account.

He alleged that although the customer claimed the number had been updated, the bank’s system still reflected the old number, potentially allowing continued access to the account’s online banking platform.

Nweke said he escalated the issue to his supervisor to block the account and claimed that a subsequent attempt to withdraw N500,000 was successfully prevented.

He also stated that he only assisted a colleague to sign out of a system when she briefly left her workstation and maintained that he did not carry out any fraudulent transaction.

The defendant told the court he was shocked when he was later invited by the bank’s investigation unit and accused of involvement in the withdrawal. He also denied any link to another disputed transaction involving N23 million allegedly meant for solar panel payments.

Nweke alleged that during internal investigations, he was pressured to facilitate repayment of the disputed funds to prevent the matter from escalating.

He further claimed that after the case was reported to the EFCC, his phone and passport were seized, and he was made to give statements without access to legal representation or family members.

According to him, his family eventually sold part of his mother’s land after investigators allegedly suggested that repayment could secure his release.

Maintaining his innocence, Nweke insisted he did not benefit from the disputed funds and had been falsely accused.

Following his testimony, defence counsel urged the court to compel the EFCC and Fidelity Bank to produce conversation desktop records as well as CCTV footage of the defendant while in EFCC custody.

Counsel argued that the materials were crucial to establishing the circumstances surrounding the investigation and proving the defendant’s innocence.

Justice Ijelu granted the request and adjourned the matter until May 14 for continuation of trial.