Crime

See what Court Do to Students Who Hacked MTN Communications’ Computers, Stealing 1.9billion

Published by Tope Fakinlede on August 6th, 2024.

See what Court Do to Students Who Hacked MTN Communications’ Computers, Stealing 1.9billion

On Monday, a Federal High Court in Lagos granted bail of ₦50 million each to Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, students from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Resign Regal Academy, respectively. The two are accused of hacking into MTN Nigeria Communications’ computers and stealing airtime and data valued at ₦1.9 billion.

Justice Akintayo Aluko approved the bail following separate applications from the defendants. Along with the bail sum, the court required each defendant to provide two sureties. One surety must be a federal or Lagos State civil servant of at least grade level 14, while the other must be a property owner within the court’s jurisdiction, with proof of ownership and an affidavit of means.

The civil servant surety must also present a reference letter from their employer and proof of their most recent promotion. Both defendants are required to submit two recent passport photos to the court registrar. The prosecution is tasked with verifying the submitted documents and residential addresses of the sureties.

Pending the fulfillment of these conditions, the court has ordered that the defendants remain in the Correctional Centre.

Oluwabukola and Odemerho were charged on July 30, 2024, by the Police Special Fraud Unit with four counts, including conspiracy, unauthorized access to MTN’s Application Programming Interface (API), and unlawful conversion. The charges, brought by prosecutor Justine Enang, allege that the defendants, along with others who remain at large, committed the offenses between January and April 2024 across Lagos and Edo states.

The prosecution claims the defendants accessed MTN’s API to steal airtime and data worth ₦1.9 billion, violating Sections 27(1)(b), 6(2), and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The defendants have pleaded not guilty. Following their plea, the court set a date to hear the bail applications on August 5, 2024.