Court grants N50m bail to two students accused of hacking MTN’s API

By Adeyanju Esther

The Federal High Court in Lagos has granted bail to two students, Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, who were accused of hacking into MTN’s web-based Application Programming Interface (API) and stealing airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.

Justice Akintayo Aluko approved the bail of N50 million each for the defendants, who were arraigned on July 30, 2024, by the Police Special Fraud Unit.

The defendants are to provide two sureties each, one of whom must be a federal or Lagos State civil servant of at least grade level 14, and the other must own landed property within the court’s jurisdiction.

The defendants are accused of conspiracy, unauthorised access to MTN’s API, and unlawful conversion.

They allegedly hacked MTN’s platform to steal airtime and data worth N1.9 billion, violating the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 (amended in 2024), and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The court ordered that the defendants be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) pending the fulfilment of their bail conditions.

The prosecution requested a trial date and for the defendants to remain in custody until the case is resolved.