The Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday granted N50 million bail each to Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Resign Regal Academy, respectively.
The duo allegedly hacked into MTN Nigeria Communication's systems and stole airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.
Justice Akintayo Aluko granted bail to the defendants after considering their separate applications. The conditions for bail included the provision of two sureties each. One surety must be a civil servant employed by the federal or Lagos State government at grade level 14 or above. The second surety must own landed property within the court's jurisdiction, provide proof of ownership, and swear to an affidavit of means.
For the civil servant surety, additional requirements included a reference letter from their workplace and a letter of their most recent promotion. The defendants were also required to submit two recent passport photographs to the court registrar. The prosecution was tasked with verifying all documents submitted by the sureties, including their residential addresses.
Pending the fulfillment of these bail conditions, the court ordered that Oluwabukola and Odemerho be remanded in a correctional center.
The arraignment took place on July 30, 2024, by the Police Special Fraud Unit, with the defendants facing four counts related to conspiracy, unauthorized access to MTN's web-based platform (Application Programming Interface), and unlawful conversion. According to the police prosecution counsel, Justine Enang, the alleged offences occurred between January and April 2024 in Lagos and Edo states.
Enang stated that the charges against the defendants violated Sections 27(1)(b); 6(2) and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and are punishable under Section 8(2) of the same Act. Additionally, the offences contravened Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. Following their pleas, the prosecutor requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in custody until the charges are resolved. However, the defense lawyer informed the court that bail applications had been filed and served on the prosecutor, which the court subsequently granted.
Be first to comment