Students Accused of Defrauding MTN of N1.9 Billion Granted N50 Million Bail

The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has granted bail to Timothy Fashina Oluwabukola and Anthony Imonina Odemerho, who are accused of defrauding MTN Nigeria Communication of N1.9 billion. The court, presided over by Justice Akintayo Aluko, set the bail at N50 million for each defendant.

The defendants, who are accused of hacking into MTN’s Application Programming Interface (API) to steal airtime and data worth N1.9 billion, were granted bail after their applications were heard. As part of the bail conditions, each defendant must provide two sureties. One surety must be a civil servant at grade level 14 or above in either the federal or Lagos State civil service, and the other must be a property owner who can provide evidence of ownership and swear to an affidavit.

Additionally, the civil servant surety must produce a reference letter from their place of work and their last promotion letter. The defendants are also required to submit two passport photographs to the court registrar. The prosecution has been tasked with verifying the documents and residential addresses of the sureties. Until these conditions are met, the defendants will remain in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS).

The Special Fraud Unit of the Police had arraigned Oluwabukola, a student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), and Odemerho, the proprietor of Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, on a four-count charge including conspiracy, unauthorized access, and unlawful conversion. The alleged offences took place between January and April of this year in Lagos and Edo states.

According to the prosecutor, Justine Enang, the accused and their accomplices accessed MTN’s API to obtain data, which they used to defraud the company. This act violates several sections of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. Following their pleas, the defence lawyer submitted bail applications, which were acknowledged by the prosecutor.

The court has scheduled a trial date to further examine the charges against the defendants, who are accused of orchestrating a significant cyber fraud operation against MTN Nigeria.