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Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has granted bail of N50 million to Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho. The two men are accused of hacking into MTN Nigeria Communication Plc’s system and stealing airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.
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The Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police charged Oluwabukola, a student at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), and Odemerho, the proprietor of Resign Regal Academy, on four counts, including conspiracy and unauthorized access to the company’s web-based Application Programming Interface (API).
Justice Aluko’s ruling on the bail applications, filed separately by the defendants’ lawyers, requires them to produce two sureties. One surety must be a civil servant in either the federal or Lagos state civil service at grade level 14, while the other must be a landed property owner within the court’s jurisdiction, providing evidence of ownership and an affidavit of means.
Defendants to be remanded until they meet bail condition
The court ordered the defendants to be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) until they meet their bail conditions.
Prosecutor Justine Enang stated that between January and April, the defendants and others at large conspired to access MTN’s API and used it to defraud the company of N1.9 billion.
The charges include violations of sections of the Cybercrime Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024), and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
