Nigeria: Court Refuses to Hear Miyetti Allah Leader's Application to Vary N2bn Bail Conditions

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Premium Times report from Abuja, says the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday declined to take up an application by Bello Bodejo, the detained National President of Miyetti Allah Kauta Kore, seeking changes to bail conditions imposed earlier in the week. Justice Inyang Ekwo had granted Bodejo bail on Monday but set terms including two sureties, one with evidence of three years of tax clearance and residence within the court’s jurisdiction, and another with land in Abuja valued at N2 billion.

According to the report, Bodejo’s lawyer, Mohammed Sheriff, told the court that his client had filed to vary the bail terms. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, represented by Fatai Erewunmi, opposed the move and filed a counter-affidavit. Justice Ekwo said the dispute over the application was unlikely to be concluded before the court’s vacation begins, and advised the parties to take the request before a vacation judge.

The substantive case was adjourned until 5 October for trial. The News Agency of Nigeria, cited in the report, said the EFCC has charged Bodejo with money laundering involving $2.63 million allegedly linked to the Bauchi State Government.

The report says the EFCC alleges Bodejo received $100,000 from Sa’idu Abubakar, a former Accountant-General of Bauchi State who is in police custody, among other foreign-currency cash transactions. Prosecutors say the alleged transactions breached statutory cash transaction limits and financial-institution routing requirements under Nigeria’s money laundering laws. The matter remains before the court, and the allegations have not been determined at trial.