EFCC arraigns firm for illegal rebroadcast of MultiChoice's contents

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Metro Digital Limited before the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, over alleged illegal interception and rebroadcast of content belonging to MultiChoice Nigeria Limited.

Multichoice is an entertainment firm that offers satellite television (DStv), digital terrestrial TV (GOtv), and streaming services (Showmax).

Metro was arraigned on four amended cybercrime charges, the EFCC said in a statement on Wednesday.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, the judge, A.T. Mohammed, ordered that the defendant take its plea after dismissing an objection raised by the defence.

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Prosecution lawyer, Steve Odiase, had informed the court that the matter was scheduled for arraignment.

However, defence lawyer, S.A. Somairi, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged the court to halt proceedings, citing a pending preliminary objection.

The judge declined the request and directed that the plea be taken in accordance with Section 478 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which allows a corporate body to enter a plea through its representative.

Metro Digital Limited, through its representative, pleaded not guilty to all four counts.

One of the charges alleges that the company, alongside its Managing Director, Ifeanyi Nwafor, and a staff member, Ikenna Kanu, both said to be at large, conspired between 2015 and 2019 to unlawfully intercept broadcast signals.

The offence, according to the charge, is contrary to Section 27(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015.

Another count alleges that on or about 16 August 2019, the defendants intentionally intercepted and rebroadcast, without authorisation, digital television signals transmitted via decoders and related devices over which MultiChoice holds exclusive rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Prosecutors said the alleged acts violated Section 12(1) of the same Act.

Following the not-guilty plea, Mr Odiase asked the court to fix a date for trial.

Mr Mohammed subsequently adjourned the case until 29 and 30 June for the commencement of trial.

The case that has been under investigation for sometime.

The EFCC said its probe began in 2019 after MultiChoice filed a petition alleging that the illegal rebroadcast of its content caused significant financial losses.

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In October 2025, operatives of the commission raided the company’s premises in Port Harcourt and arrested two employees over the same allegations. Equipment including decoders, servers and transmission services were recovered during the operation.

The court had earlier issued interim orders restraining the firm from accessing or transmitting MultiChoice signals and freezing accounts linked to the alleged activities pending the conclusion of investigations.

However, Metro Digital has denied wrongdoing, describing its dispute with MultiChoice as a civil disagreement over content sublicensing rather than a criminal matter. The company has also said related issues are the subject of ongoing litigation.