The Federal High Court in Lagos granted bail to two students accused of hacking into MTN Nigeria Communication’s computer systems, resulting in the theft of airtime and data worth N1.9 billion. The students, Timothy Oluwabukola from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Anthony Odemerho from Resign Regal Academy, were each granted bail set at N50 million.
Justice Akintayo Aluko presided over the bail hearing and approved the applications filed by the defendants. As part of the bail conditions, the defendants are required to provide two sureties each. One surety must be a civil servant employed by the federal or Lagos state government, holding at least a Grade Level 14 position. The second surety must be a property owner within the court’s jurisdiction, providing evidence of ownership and swearing to an affidavit of means.
The judge also specified that the civil servant surety must present a reference letter from their employer and a letter of their most recent promotion. Both defendants are required to submit two recent passport photographs to the court registrar. The prosecution was directed to verify all documents submitted by the sureties, including their residential addresses.
Until they meet these bail conditions, Oluwabukola and Odemerho will remain in a correctional facility. The two students were initially arraigned on July 30, 2024, by the Police Special Fraud Unit. They face four charges, including conspiracy, unauthorized access to MTN’s web-based platform known as Application Programming Interface (API), and unlawful conversion.
Police prosecutor Justine Enang stated that the alleged crimes occurred between January and April 2024 in both Lagos and Edo states. The charges include violations of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. The specific sections cited were Sections 27(1)(b), 6(2), and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime Act, punishable under Section 8(2), and Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering Act, punishable under Section 18(3).
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges. Following their pleas, the prosecutor requested a trial date and that the defendants be remanded in custody. The defense lawyer confirmed that bail applications had been filed and served on the prosecutor. Consequently, Justice Aluko scheduled the hearing for August 5, 2024, to consider the bail applications.
