Police Arraign Hackers For Stealing N1.9bn From MTN Network

The police in Lagos have arraigned two alleged hackers, Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into MTN Nigeria Communication Plc system and stealing airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.

The Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police docked the two men before Justice Akintayo Aluko on a four-count conspiracy charge, unauthorised access into the company’s web-based Application Programming Interface (API) and unlawful conversion.

Oluwabukola, a student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Odemerho, the proprietor of Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, Edo State, allegedly committed the offences between January and April this year in Lagos and Edo States.

The prosecutor, Justine Enang, told the court that the defendants and others at large conspired among themselves and accessed the telecom’s Application Programming Interface (API) of MTN and obtained data from the said application, which they used to defraud the company to the tune of N1.9 billion.

Enang also claimed that the offences contravened sections 27(1)(b), 6(2), and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (prohibition, prevention, etc) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, but were punishable under Section 8(2) of the same Act.

He also informed the court that the offences violated section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, but punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Based on their plea, the prosecutor urged the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendants in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) until the charge was determined.

But, the defence lawyer informed the court that he had filed bail applications for his clients, and that same had been served on the prosecutor.

In response, the prosecutor confirmed being served with the applications but told the court that he was served while the proceedings were on.

Enang then asked the court for a short date to enable him to study the applications and respond accordingly.

After listening to the lawyers, Justice Aluko adjourned the matter to August 5 for a hearing of the defendants’ bail applications.