Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 8 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues

Lagos state - Ajayi, Michael Folaseye, who works in the Information Technology (IT) Department, said he rejected a $7,000 bribe allegedly offered by a colleague for access to hack Premium Trust Bank.

Folaseye said the colleague offered him the money while seeking unauthorized access to Premium Trust Bank’s internal systems.

The witness said the first defendant, Kehinde Odeyemi, an internal auditor, made the offer during a covert conversation on May 5, 2025.

Folaseye, the first prosecution witness (PW1), told a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, during the ongoing trial of Kehinde Odeyemi and Matthew Adeniyi Damilola, both employees.,

The EFCC made this known in a statement issued via its X handle @officialEFCC on Monday, June 30, 2025.

The anti-graft agency said the defendants are facing trial alongside three others, Samson Latshin Dakup, Bolaji Omotosho Yinka, and Sunday Badeniyi Okunola, on a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy to steal.

While being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Folaseye said:

“She approached me during the office hours and suggested we could make some money through a 'side gig.

“She asked for a generic IP address used within the IT department.”

He said he told the colleague there is no generic IP and that he only had a personal IP address assigned for daily use.

Folaseye said, despite his refusal, Odeyemi allegedly offered him $5,000 in cash with the promise to deliver from the bank’s head office that evening.

He told the court that when he declined again, she allegedly raised the offer to $7,000.

“I told her I wasn’t interested. She then told me to keep the conversation secret and threatened to resign if I reported it.”

The bank employee said he escalated the matter to Mr. Idris Adegoke and eventually to the bank’s Head of IT, Mr. Mike Koledoye.

He explained that the IP address is

“a code that grants access to customer data and core banking operations. Disclosing it would pose serious cybersecurity risks.”

He added that sharing such information would violate the bank’s data protection policy.

Speaking on the reason he chose to report the matter despite being urged to remain silent

“Given past incidents, the bank mandates us to report any suspicious behaviour immediately. It could have been a trap or an integrity test.”

Recall that a Nigerian court in Abuja ordered the freezing of 818 bank accounts suspected to have received proceeds of crime.

The court order said the accounts are under investigation for an N10 billion cyberattack on Hope Payment Service Bank.

The court gave the 30-day freezing order to help the bank recover the funds that were moved into the accounts in a July cyber heist.

In a similar story, Legit.ng reported that hackers dealt a heavy blow to over 1000 Nigerian bank customers.

The fraudsters who have now been arrested stole millions of naira from customers via BVN-linked numbers.

Police stated that the arrested persons are part of a criminal syndicate operating in different parts of Nigeria.

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Source: Legit.ng