The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore leader, Bello Bodejo, following his arraignment over alleged $2.33 million money laundering offences.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, announced that Bodejo was brought before Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo on July 9, 2026, on a 12-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering involving $2.33 million.
When the matter came up, prosecution counsel, Wahab Shittu, SAN, urged the court to entertain the charge dated June 24, 2026 and filed on June 25, 2026, and sought leave for the defendant to enter his plea. The application was granted by the court.
One of the counts alleged that Bodejo accepted a cash payment of $100,000 from Sa’idu Abubakar, a former Accountant-General of Bauchi State, without routing the transaction through a financial institution, despite exceeding the statutory cash transaction limit prescribed by law.
Another count alleged that he accepted $980,000 in cash from the same former public officer on February 7, 2024 without using a financial institution, an act the prosecution said contravened the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Bodejo pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges.
Following his plea, Shittu asked the court to fix a date for trial and remand the defendant in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service. Defence counsel, Ahmed Raji, SAN, urged the court to grant his client bail based on an application filed on June 30, 2026.
Opposing the request, the prosecution referred to a 28-paragraph counter-affidavit dated July 6, 2026, arguing that “the defendant is a public risk as the Department of State Security Services, DSS is on the watch out for him,” and added that “being an influential person, he may manipulate the witnesses and progress of the case.”
Justice Ekwo directed that Bodejo be remanded in the EFCC holding facility and fixed July 20, 2026 for a ruling on the bail application.