•Miyetti Allah leader Bodejo in court
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned the leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged money laundering involving $2.33 million.
According to EFCC on X, Bodejo was arraigned before Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo today on a 12-count charge bordering on alleged violations of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges, reports The PUNCH.
Following his plea, prosecution counsel, Wahab Shittu (SAN), urged the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendant in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
However, defence counsel, Ahmed Raji (SAN), prayed the court to admit Bodejo to bail based on an application filed on June 30, 2026.
Opposing the application, the prosecution argued that the defendant posed a flight risk and could interfere with the case.
Shittu told the court that the Department of State Services was “on the watch out for him” and argued that, “being an influential person, he may manipulate the witnesses and progress of the case.”
Justice Ekwo subsequently ordered that Bodejo be remanded in the EFCC’s holding facility and adjourned the matter until July 20 for ruling on the bail application.
According to the EFCC, one of the charges alleged that Bodejo unlawfully received $100,000 in cash from a former Bauchi State Accountant-General, Sa’idu Abubakar, without routing the transaction through a financial institution as required by law.
The charge reads in part, “That you, Bello Abdullahi Bodejo… did knowingly and wilfully, without lawful authority or excuse, accept a cash payment of the sum of One Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (USD $100,000.00)… without routing the said transaction through a financial institution as required by law.”
Another charge alleged that Bodejo accepted $980,000 in cash from the same individual in February 2024, also in breach of the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
It reads, “That you… did knowingly and wilfully, without lawful authority or excuse, accept a cash payment of the sum of Nine Hundred and Eighty Thousand United States Dollars (USD $980,000.00)… without routing the said transaction through a financial institution as required by law.”
The anti-graft agency alleged that the total amount involved in the charges is about $2.33 million.
