…Fixes Feb.27, 2025 for trial
The federal high court sitting in Abuja on Friday granted One Billion Naira (N1Bn).bail to 109 foreign nationals who
allegedly committed Cybercrime offences in the country.
The defendants were arraigned before the court on six court charge by the Inspector General of Police for cybercrimes that breaches national security and their admission to bail followed an application to that effect argued on their behalf by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr Ogwu James Onoja.
Justice Ekerete Akpan ordered all the 109 defendants to produce five sureties in the the sum of N200M per each of the five sureties to secure their.
The sureties must in addition be residents in Abuja and must each have landed property worth N200M.
They are to also swear to affidavit of means and submit to the court, original copies of documents of their properties which shall be verified by the Registrar of the court.
Justice Akpan further ordered that the accused persons and their five sureties must submit all their original travelling documents with the court registrar and must not travel out of Nigeria throughout the period of their trial.
The defendants and sureties are to also submit two copies of their recent passport photograph with the court.
Justice Akpan agreed with Ogwu Onoja SAN that the essence of bail is to allow defendants prepare for defence and that grating such bail is at the discretion of the court.
The Judge said that he was not unmindful of the fact that the accused persons are foreigners but that the law of the country presume them innocent until the contrary has been established.
Pending the perfection of the bail conditions, Justice Akpan ordered that the males among the accused persons be remanded at Kuje prison while the female ones are to be kept at Keffi prison in Nasarawa state.
The Inspector General of Police IGP had put the 109 defendants on trial on 6-counts bothering on Cybercrimes allegedly committed in Abuja in 2024.
However, the defendants who are mainly Chinese, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand nationals pleaded not guilty to the the charges.
Meanwhile Justice Akpan has fixed February 27 next year for their trial.
The Inspector General of Police was represented at the proceedings by lawyer A. S Egwu who vehemently objected to the bail of the accused persons through a counter affidavit.
His objection was overruled on the ground that grant of bail is at the discretion of the court and the nature of charges against the defendants.
In the instant case, Justice Akpan held that the charges against the foreigners are not capital ones and as such billable with conditions.
At the time of this report, all the accused persons have been taken to prison on remand.
According to the six-count charge, the 109 defendants were accused by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of entering Nigeria in September 2024 with business permits valid for 30 days, failing to leave Nigeria when the permit expired, and remaining in the country without a valid resident permit or appropriate visa, in violation of the Immigration Act of 2015.
They were also accused of knowingly accessing computers and networks, altering, deleting, or suppressing data to create inauthentic information, with the intent that such data would be considered or acted upon as genuine, contrary to Section 13 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended, 2024).
The police further accused the defendants of removing proceeds generated from operating fraudulent and unregistered gambling platforms, including 9f.com, cz.top, and 8pg.top, thereby committing money laundering.
The police alleged that the suspects, with the intent to defraud, promoted these fraudulent and unregistered gambling platforms via electronic messages on the internet, materially misrepresenting facts about the platforms, in violation of relevant laws.