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The Police Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi, Lagos, has arraigned two students, Timothy Fashina Oluwabukola and Anthony Imonina Odemerho, before the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into MTN Nigeria Communication Plc’s computers and stealing airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.

Oluwabukola and Odemerho, who are students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, Edo State, respectively, were arraigned before Justice Akintayo Aluko on a four-count charge of conspiracy, unauthorized access, and unlawful conversion.

The Prosecutor alleged that the defendants conspired and accessed MTN’s Application Programming Interface (API) without authorization, obtaining data that they used to defraud the company. The offences contravene the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

According to the charges, the defendants and others at large committed the offences between January and April 2024, in Lagos and Edo states. They allegedly used the stolen airtime and data to defraud MTN to the tune of N1.9 billion, and sold the airtime and data to the public, converting the proceeds to their own use.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the four-count charge, and their lawyers filed bail applications. Justice Akintayo Aluko adjourned the case until August 5 for hearing of the bail applications.

The Prosecutor asked the court for a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) till the determination of the charge.

The defence lawyers informed the court that they had filed their clients’ bail applications and same had been served on the prosecutor. The prosecutor confirmed being served with the applications and requested a short date to study same and respond accordingly.

A charge against the defendants read: “That you, Timothy Fashina Oluwabukola, Anthony Imonina Odemerho and others at large, between January and April, 2024, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired amongst yourselves to intentionally and without authorization, gained access into MTN Nigeria Communications Plc computer system/network, with intent to obtain data from the said computer system/network, which you subsequently used to defraud the company (MTN) to the tune of One Billion, Nine Hundred Million Naira (N1,900,000,000), and thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 27(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (prohibition, prevention, etc) Act, 2015 as amended in 2024, but punishable under Section 8(2) of the same Act.

The alleged hacking and theft have sparked concerns about cybersecurity and the need for companies to protect their computer systems and networks from unauthorized access.