Police arraign two hackers for stealing from MTN

Two suspected hackers, Timothy Oluwabukola and Anthony Odemerho, have been charged by the Lagos police with breaking into the MTN Nigeria Communication Plc system and stealing data and airtime worth N1.9 billion. The charges were brought before a Federal High Court in Lagos. 

The two individuals were docked before Justice Akintayo Aluko by the Nigeria Police Special Fraud Unit on four counts of conspiracy, unauthorised entry into the company's web-based Application Programming Interface (API), and unlawful conversion. 

Between January and April of this year, in Lagos and Edo States, Oluwabukola, a student at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Odemerho, the owner of Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, Edo State, are accused of committing the acts.

The prosecution, represented by Justine Enang, informed the court that the defendants and other fugitives colluded to gain access to MTN's program Programming Interface (API) and to steal data from the aforementioned program. 

They then utilised this information to cheat the firm out of N1.9 billion. Enang further asserted that although the acts were punishable under Section 8(2) of the Cybercrime (prohibition, prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as modified in 2024, they violated sections 27(1)(b), 6(2), and 28(1)(b) of the same Act. 

Additionally, he told the court that although the acts were punished under Section 18(3) of the same Act, they did not comply with section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. Nonetheless, the defendants entered a not guilty plea to the accusation.

The prosecutor asked the court to set a trial date and confine the defendants to the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) pending the outcome of the charge, based on their plea. 

The prosecutor acknowledged receiving the applications in response, but he informed the court that he had been served during the ongoing proceedings. 

Enang then requested a brief hearing time from the court so he could review the applications and adjust his response. Judge Aluko postponed the case to August 5 in order to hear the defendants' bail requests after hearing from the attorneys.

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