The Nigerian Police Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi, Lagos State, has brought charges against Timothy Fashina Oluwabukola and Anthony Imonina Odemerho for allegedly hacking into MTN Nigeria’s computer systems and stealing N1.9 billion worth of airtime and data.
The suspects, students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta and Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, were arraigned before Justice Akintayo Aluko.
The charges include conspiracy, unauthorized access to MTN’s Application Programming Interface (API), and unlawful conversion of resources.
The accused, who have pleaded not guilty, are alleged to have carried out these offenses between January and April 2024 across Lagos and Edo states.
Prosecuting counsel Justine Enang stated that the defendants illegally accessed MTN’s API and misused the stolen data, actions that are in violation of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act of 2015, as amended in 2024, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022.
The prosecution has requested a trial date and asked that the accused be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services.
Meanwhile, the defense has submitted bail applications. Justice Aluko has set a hearing for these applications on August 5.
The charges detail the alleged manipulation of MTN’s systems and the conversion of stolen airtime into data by the defendants.
