Special Fraud Unit arraigns suspect for cybercrime

The Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Police, on Tuesday arraigned a defendant before a Federal High Court in Lagos, over alleged unlawful interception of digital infrastructure.

The defendant, Ayodeji Oyenekan, was charged before Justice A. Aluko, on a three-count charge bordering on cybercrime.

He, however. pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The prosecutor, Mr M. Y. Bello, told the court that the defendant committed the offence sometime in February 2022.

He, alleged that the defendant intentionally and without authorisation, intercepted digital infrastructure server hosted by Amazon Web Services, property of Meplaylist Classic Entertainment.

According to the prosecution, the defendant caused the said Meplaylist Classic Entertainment Ltd. loss of property, by altering Amazon Web services, which restricted the rightful owner access to its server.

He alleged that the defendant inputted his email address [email protected], and allegedly built a mobility startup called Hellobikee, for purposes of conferring economic benefits to himself.

The defendant was also alleged to have fraudulently made use of the electronic unique identification feature of Meplaylist, through his email, for purposes of conferring economic benefits to himself.

The offence contravenes the provisions of sections 12(1), 16(1), and 22(2)(a) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention) Act, 2015.

The court granted the defendant bail in the sum of N10 million with one surety in like sum.

The court held that the defendant shall remain in the correctional facility, pending perfection of all conditions of bail as spelt out by the court.

He adjourned the case until Jan. 21, 2025, for trial.