Lagos Court Grants Two Students Charged With Hacking MTN Systems ₦100 Million Bail

A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Monday, granted bail of ₦50 million each to Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, students from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Resign Regal Academy, respectively.

Naija News learnt that the students are accused of hacking MTN Nigeria Communication’s systems and stealing airtime and data worth ₦1.9 billion.

Justice Akintayo Aluko approved the bail following the hearing of separate applications from the defendants.

Along with the bail amount, each defendant must present two sureties. One surety must be a federal or Lagos State civil servant of at least grade level 14, while the other must own landed property within the court’s jurisdiction. Evidence of property ownership and an affidavit of means must be provided.

For the civil servant surety, a reference letter from their employer and a letter of the last promotion are required. The defendants must also submit two recent passport photographs to the court registrar.

Justice Aluko instructed the prosecution to verify all documents submitted by the sureties, including their residential addresses. The court also ruled that the defendants remain in custody at the Correctional Centre until they meet their bail conditions.

Oluwabukola and Odemerho were arraigned on July 30, 2024, by the Police Special Fraud Unit. They face charges of conspiracy, unauthorized access to MTN’s web-based platform known as Application Programming Interface, and unlawful conversion, as outlined by the police.

Police prosecution counsel Justine Enang reported that the alleged crimes occurred between January and April 2024 in Lagos and Edo states, with accomplices still at large.

The prosecutor accused the defendants of hacking MTN’s platform to steal airtime and data worth ₦1.9 billion.

These actions reportedly violate Sections 27(1)(b), 6(2), and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015, amended in 2024, with punishments under Section 8(2). The charges also breach Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention And Prohibition) Act, 2022, punishable under Section 18(3).

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. The prosecution requested a trial date and for the defendants to be held in custody until the charges are resolved. The defense lawyer, however, indicated that bail applications had been submitted to the court.

The prosecutor acknowledged receipt of the applications during proceedings and requested additional time to review them.