Cybercrimes: Court admits 109 foreigners, others to N1b bail

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, admitted the 109 foreign nationals allegedly involved in cybercrimes to bail in the sum of N1 billion.

Justice Ekerete Akpan ordered that all 109 defendants must produce five sureties, each in the sum of N200 million for the five sureties.

The sureties must, in addition, be residents of Abuja and must each own landed property worth N200 million.

They are also to swear an affidavit of means and submit to the court original copies of documents for 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 to the court registrar and must not travel out of Nigeria throughout the period of their trial.

The defendants and sureties must also submit two copies of their recent passport photographs to the court.

Justice Akpan agreed with the defendants’ counsel that the essence of bail is to allow the defendants to prepare their defense, 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 presumes innocence 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 females are to be kept at Keffi prison in Nasarawa State.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) had put the 109 defendants on trial on six counts of cyber crimes allegedly committed in Abuja in 2024.

However, the defendants, who are mainly Chinese, Indonesian, Brazilian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Thai nationals, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Meanwhile, Justice Akpan has fixed February 27 next year for their trial.

The Inspector General of Police’s counsel, though vehemently objecting to the bail of the accused persons through a counter affidavit, had his objection overruled. The objection did not stand on the grounds that the grant of bail is at the discretion of the court and based on the nature of the charges against the defendants.

In this case, Justice Akpan held that the charges against the foreigners are not capital ones and are therefore bailable with conditions.

At the time of this report, all the accused persons had been taken to prison on remand.