The police in Lagos have arraigned two alleged hackers, Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, before a Federal High Court for allegedly infiltrating the system of MTN Nigeria Communication Plc and stealing airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.
The Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police brought the two men before Justice Akintayo Aluko on a four-count charge of conspiracy, unauthorized access to the company’s web-based Application Programming Interface (API), and unlawful conversion.
Oluwabukola, a student at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Odemerho, the proprietor of Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, Edo State, allegedly committed the offenses between January and April of this year in Lagos and Edo States.
The prosecutor, Justine Enang, informed the court that the defendants, along with others at large, conspired to access MTN’s Application Programming Interface (API) and obtained data from it, which they used to defraud the company of N1.9 billion.
Enang further asserted that the offenses contravened sections 27(1)(b), 6(2), and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and were punishable under Section 8(2) of the same Act.
He also noted that the offenses violated section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which are punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In light of their plea, the prosecutor requested that the court set a trial date and remand the defendants in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) until the charges were resolved.
The defense lawyer, however, informed the court that he had filed bail applications for his clients and that these had been served on the prosecutor.
In response, the prosecutor confirmed receipt of the applications but stated that he had only been served while the proceedings were ongoing.
Enang then requested a short adjournment to allow him time to study the applications and respond accordingly.
After hearing from both sides, Justice Aluko adjourned the matter to August 5 for a hearing on the defendants’ bail applications.
