The Police Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi, Lagos, has charged two students, Timothy Fashina Oluwabukola and Anthony Imonina Odemerho, before the Federal High Court for allegedly hacking into MTN Nigeria Communication Plc’s systems and stealing airtime and data worth N1.9 billion.
Oluwabukola, a student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Odemerho, from Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, Edo State, faced a four-count charge, including conspiracy, unauthorised access to MTN’s web-based platform known as Application Programming Interface (API), and unlawful conversion.
The alleged offenses occurred between January and April of this year in Lagos and Edo States. According to the prosecution, the defendants and others at large accessed MTN’s API and fraudulently acquired data, causing a loss of N1.9 billion to the company.
These actions are said to violate Sections 27(1)(b), 6(2), and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 as amended in 2024, and Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, punishable under the respective sections of these Acts.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges. Following their pleas, the prosecutor requested a trial date and that the defendants be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) until the case’s resolution. The defense lawyers, however, noted that they had filed bail applications, which had been served to the prosecutor during the proceedings. The prosecutor confirmed receipt and requested time to review them.
Justice Akintayo Aluko adjourned the hearing on the bail applications to August 5.
The charges against the defendants include accusations of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to MTN’s systems, the unlawful use of authorization keys and passwords, and the fraudulent conversion of airtime into data, which was then sold to the public. The actions allegedly caused significant financial losses to MTN Nigeria Communications Plc.