O n Monday, a Federal High Court in Lagos granted bail to Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, students from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Resign Regal Academy, respectively, who are accused of hacking MTN Nigeria Communication's computers and stealing airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.
Justice Akintayo Aluko granted each defendant N50 million bail after hearing their separate bail applications. Along with the bail sum, the judge ordered the defendants to provide 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 evidence of ownership, and swear to an affidavit of means.
For the civil servant surety, a reference letter from their place of work and a letter of their last promotion are required. Additionally, the defendants must 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 ordered that the defendants be remanded in the Correctional Centre pending the fulfillment of their bail conditions.
Oluwabukola and Odemerho were arraigned on July 30, 2024, by the Police Special Fraud Unit, facing four counts of conspiracy, unauthorized access to MTN’s web-based platform (Application Programming Interface), and unlawful conversion. The police prosecution counsel, Justine Enang, alleged that the defendants committed these offenses between January and April 2024 in Lagos and Edo states. The alleged crimes contravene Sections 27(1)(b), 6(2), and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 (amended in 2024), and Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention And Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. The prosecution requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in custody until the charges were determined. However, the defense lawyer indicated that bail applications had been filed and served on the prosecutor. The prosecutor confirmed receipt of the bail applications during the proceedings and requested a short date to respond.
Justice Aluko adjourned the case to August 5, 2024, for the hearing of the defendants' bail applications.
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