Two alleged hackers, Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, have been granted N50m bail each by a Federal High Court in Lagos following their arraignment for allegedly hacking MTN Nigeria Communication computers and stealing airtime and data valued at N1.9bn.
Justice Akintayo Aluko granted them bail after hearing their separate bail applications and ordered them to provide two sureties each.
One surety must be a civil servant in federal or Lagos State employment, at grade level 14 and above, while the second surety must be a landed property owner within the court’s jurisdiction.
The court also ordered the verification of all documents submitted by the sureties, including their residential addresses.
The defendants are to be remanded in custody until their bail conditions are fulfilled.
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Oluwabukola and Odemerho were arraigned on July 30, 2024, and are facing four counts of conspiracy, unauthorized access, and unlawful conversion.
According to the prosecution counsel, Justin Enang, the duo, along with others at large, allegedly hacked into the MTN web-based platform and stole airtime and data valued at N1.9bn between January and April 2024.
The prosecutor requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in custody.
The defence lawyer, however, stated that bail applications had been filed and served on the prosecutor, who confirmed being served but requested a short date to study the applications and respond.
The case was adjourned till August 5, 2024, for a hearing of the defendants’ bail applications.
