Justice Akintayo Aluko of Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Monday, granted N50m bail each to two students, Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, who allegedly hacked MTN Nigeria Communication computers, stealing airtime and data valued at N1.9bn.
The two students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Resign Regal Academy respectively, were charged with conspiracy, unauthorised access to MTN’s Application Programming Interface (API), and unlawful conversion.
Justice Aluko granted them bail after hearing two separate bail applications filed by the defendants.
The Court also ordered the defendants to provide two sureties each, a grade level 14 or above Civil servant, in a Federal or Lagos State levels and a landed property owner within the state, with verifiable documents to prove ownership.
In addition, the defendants are to submit two passport photographs to the registrar of the Court.
The court further ordered that the defendants be remanded in the Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of their bail conditions.
It would be recalled that the Police Special Fraud Unit on July 30, 2024, arraigned Oluwabukola and Odemerho, on a four count charge of fraud and authorised access to the company’s systems, between January and April 2024.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought against them by the police.
The prosecution, Justine Enang told the court that that the defendants committed the crime in Lagos and Edo states, in the company of other hackers who are now at large.
Enang said the defendants accessed MTN’s API and fraudulently used the stolen data, violating the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Having pleaded not guilty, the prosecution requested a trial date and sought that the defendants be remanded in Nigerian Correctional Services custody pending the determination of their case.
However, the defense counsel informed the court that he has filed two bail applications and served them in the prosecution.
In response, the prosecutor confirmed being served with the bail applications but told the court that he was served while the proceedings were going on and asked for some time, to study the applications.
Justice Aluko therefore adjourned the case till August 5, 2024, for a hearing of the defendants’ bail applications.