By Dara Ojomo
The Nigeria Police Force has filed cybercrime charges against the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, along with two others, over the alleged unlawful interception of a woman’s telephone and computer network.
The other defendants named alongside Ogunwole are Mufutau Ibrahim and Tajudeen Opoola. According to a charge sheet dated October 2, the charges were filed by the Inspector-General of Police before the Federal High Court in Lagos, on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The first count accuses the three men of conspiring, with intent and without authorisation, to unlawfully intercept the transmission of computer data belonging to Dr Adeola Kehinde, along with its content. The alleged offences are said to have taken place on August 23, 2026, at the university in Ekiti State, and are listed as contrary to Sections 27, 12 and 16 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.
The charges come against the backdrop of a wider, ongoing dispute within the university. Weeks earlier, police had reportedly attempted to arrest Ogunwole at his residence in Ado-Ekiti in the early hours of the morning, an effort that staff and students mobilised to block. Ogunwole, addressing journalists at the time, linked the incident to a petition allegedly filed by individuals connected to the university, including his predecessor, Prof. Abayomi Fasina, and a former Dean of the Faculty of Law, Dr Adeola Kehinde, the same individual named as the alleged victim in the current cybercrime charge.
Ogunwole has previously said he separately petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over what he described as threats to his life and workplace, and that the underlying dispute had already moved into the courts.
As the charges stand, Ogunwole and his co-defendants are presumed innocent unless and until the allegations are proven in court.
