MAPOLY Student, Another Arrested for Hacking MTN Systems, Stealing N1.9Bn

The Police Special Fraud Unit in Ikoyi, Lagos, has revealed the details of how two students, Timothy Fashina Oluwabukola and Anthony Imonina Odemerho, allegedly hacked into MTN Nigeria Communication’s computers and stole airtime and data worth N1.9 billion.

Oluwabukola, a student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Odemerho, a student at Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, Edo State, were arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos on a four-count charge of conspiracy, unauthorized access, and unlawful conversion.

According to the prosecution counsel, Justine Enang, the defendants and others at large allegedly committed the offense between January and April this year in Lagos and Edo states. They allegedly accessed MTN’s Application Programming Interface (API) and obtained data, which they used to defraud the company of N1.9 billion.

The alleged illegal act contravenes the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015, and the Money Laundering (Prevention And Prohibition) Act, 2022. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the four counts charge.

The prosecutor requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) until the determination of the charge. However, the defense lawyers informed the court that they had filed their clients’ bail applications.

Justice Aluko adjourned till August 5 for hearing of the defendants’ bail applications.

The charges 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.