On Monday, a Federal High Court in Lagos approved bail in the amount of N50 million for two students, Timothy Oluwabukola from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Anthony Odemerho from Resign Regal Academy.

They are accused of hacking into the computers of MTN Nigeria Communication and misappropriating airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.

Justice Akintayo Aluko granted bail following the consideration of two distinct bail applications submitted by the defendants.

In addition to the bail amount, Aluko mandated that each defendant secure two sureties. One surety must be a civil servant employed at the federal or Lagos State level, holding a position at grade level 14 or higher.

The second surety is required to be a property owner within the court's jurisdiction, must provide proof of ownership, and must submit an affidavit of means.

Furthermore, the civil servant must present a reference letter from their workplace and a letter confirming their most recent promotion, while the defendants are required to submit two recent passport photographs to the court registrar.

Aluko also instructed the prosecution to verify all documents provided by the sureties, including their residential addresses.

The court has additionally mandated that the defendants be held at the Correctional Centre until they meet the conditions of their bail.

Oluwabukola and Odemerho were brought before the court on July 30, 2024, by the Police Special Fraud Unit.

They are charged with four counts related to conspiracy, unauthorized access to the company's web-based platform referred to as Application Programming Interface, and unlawful conversion, as alleged by the police.

The prosecuting counsel, Justine Enang, informed the court that the defendants allegedly committed these offenses in collaboration with others who are currently at large.

Enang further stated that Oluwabukola and Odemerho, identified as students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, Edo State, respectively, are accused of executing these crimes between January and April 2024 in Lagos and Edo states.

He asserted that the pair purportedly hacked into the MTN web-based platform known as Application Programming Interface, resulting in the theft of airtime and data valued at N1.9 billion.

According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 27(1)(b); 6(2) and 28(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 as amended in 2024, but punishable under Section 8(2) of the same Act.

He added that the offences also contravened Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention And Prohibition) Act, 2022, punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.

The defendants entered a plea of not guilty to the allegations brought against them.

In light of this plea, the prosecutor requested the court to set a trial date and advocated for the defendants to be held in a correctional facility until the resolution of the charges.

In turn, the defense attorney informed the court that he had submitted two bail applications, which had been duly served to the prosecutor.

The prosecutor acknowledged receipt of the bail applications but noted that they were served during the ongoing proceedings. He requested a brief postponement to allow him time to review the applications and formulate a response.

As a result, Justice Aluko scheduled the case for adjournment until August 5, 2024, to hear the defendants' bail applications.