Court Remands Ex-Access Bank Staff In Prison For ‘Stealing N294.5m In Lagos’

A former employee of Access Bank Plc, Chinonso Akujobi, has been remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre after being arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged theft of N294,595,992.

Akujobi was arraigned on Thursday before Justice I.O. Ijelu of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC on a five-count charge bordering on alleged stealing.

According to the anti-graft agency, the defendant allegedly diverted the funds while working with the bank in 2025.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Chinonso Akujobi, sometime between January and December, 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with a dishonest intent, and while under the employment of Access Bank Plc, stole and converted for your own use, by unauthorized payments from the general ledger of the bank to your Access Bank account number 0036668871 with the name Chinonso A., Uchechi A. and Florence A, the sum of N109,325,566.86 (One Hundred and Nine Million Three Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty-six Naira Eighty-six Kobo), thereby committed an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

The EFCC alleged that the total amount involved in the case was N294,595,992.

When the charges were read in court, the defendant pleaded not guilty.

Following the plea, prosecution counsel, S.M. Yabo, urged the court to fix a date for trial and requested that the defendant be remanded in a correctional facility pending the determination of the case.

Justice Ijelu subsequently adjourned the matter until October 8, 2026, for the hearing of the defendant's bail application and the commencement of trial.

The court also ordered that Akujobi be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending further proceedings.