On Monday, a Federal High Court in Lagos granted bail of N50 million each to Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, two students from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Resign Regal Academy, respectively.
They were accused of hacking MTN Nigeria Communications’ computers and stealing airtime and data worth N1.9 billion. Justice Akintayo Aluko granted the bail after hearing two separate applications from the defendants.
The court ordered that each defendant provide two sureties: one must be a civil servant in federal or Lagos State employment at grade level 14 or above, and the other must be a property owner within the court’s jurisdiction who can provide proof of ownership and swear to an affidavit of means.
The civil servant surety must submit a reference letter from their workplace and a letter of their last promotion. Both defendants must also submit two recent passport photographs to the court registrar.
The prosecution was instructed to verify all documents and residential addresses of the sureties. Until their bail conditions are met, the defendants will remain in the Correctional Centre.
Oluwabukola and Odemerho were arraigned by the Police Special Fraud Unit on July 30, 2024, facing four counts of conspiracy, unauthorized access to MTN’s web-based platform, and unlawful conversion.
Prosecutor Justine Enang stated that the offences occurred between January and April 2024 in Lagos and Edo states, involving the theft of N1.9 billion worth of airtime and data from MTN’s Application Programming Interface.
The alleged crimes violate several sections of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty. Following their plea, the prosecutor requested a trial date and asked for their remand in custody until the charges are resolved.