Court imposes stringent bail conditions on 109 foreigners charged with cybercrimes

The trial judge, Ekerete Akpan, ordered that each of the 109 defendants provide five sureties.

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday granted bail to 109 foreign nationals accused of cybercrimes in stringent terms.

The trial judge, Ekerete Akpan, ordered that each of the 109 defendants provide five sureties, with each surety required to post N200 million bail bond.

They are unusual bail conditions that likely factored in the defendants’ status as foreigners. Generally, courts do not demand more that two bail sureties from defendants.

The court granted bail to the 109 foreigners on Friday, after their lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued their bail application on Friday.

The Nigerian police arrested 130 suspects, including 113 foreign nationals—87 men and 26 women— and 17 Nigerians—4 men and 13 women—over alleged involvement in cybercrimes, hacking, and activities deemed threats to national security, PREMIUM TIMES reported.

The arrests followed a coordinated raid on a building in the Next Cash and Carry area of Jahi, Abuja, where the suspects were allegedly using computers and advanced devices for criminal operations.

The defendants, who include nationals from China, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand, have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The other conditions imposed on them include that the sureties must also be residents in Abuja and must each have landed property worth N200 million.

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.

Mr Akpan further ordered that the accused persons and their five sureties must submit all their original travelling documents to 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.

The trial judge agreed with Mr Onoja that the essence of bail is to allow defendants prepare for defence and that granting 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 presumed innocent until the contrary has been established.

Pending the perfection of the bail conditions, Mr 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.

The prosecution led by A. S Egwu, had opposed the defendants’ bail application.

Overuling the objection, Mr Akpan held that the charges against the foreigners are not capital ones and as such bailable with conditions.

At the time of this report, all the accused persons have been taken to prison, where they would remain pending when they would meet their bail conditions.

The judge fixed 27 February 2025 for their trial.