The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Abdullahi Bodejo, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged $2.33 million money laundering scheme.
Bodejo was docked on Wednesday before Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo on a 12-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering and unlawful cash transactions in violation of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering laws.
At the proceedings, prosecution counsel, Wahab Shittu, SAN, informed the court of the 12-count charge dated June 24 and filed on June 25, 2026, and urged the court to allow the defendant to take his plea. The application was granted.
The EFCC alleged, among other counts, that Bodejo knowingly accepted cash payments far above the statutory threshold without routing the transactions through a financial institution, contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
According to the first count, the defendant allegedly received $100,000 in cash on January 11, 2022, in Abuja from Sa’idu Abubakar, a former Accountant-General of Bauchi State who is currently in the custody of the Nigeria Police Force, without processing the transaction through a financial institution as required by law.
The Commission further alleged in another count that Bodejo accepted an additional cash payment of $980,000 from the same individual on February 7, 2024, also in Abuja, in breach of the statutory provisions regulating high-value cash transactions.
The anti-graft agency maintained that the transactions exceeded the legal cash transaction threshold of ₦5 million and constituted offences under Nigeria’s money laundering legislation.
Bodejo pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts.
Following his plea, the prosecution urged the court to fix a date for trial and order that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending the determination of the case.
Defence counsel, Ahmed Raji, SAN, however, applied for his client’s release on bail, relying on a bail application filed on June 30, 2026.
The prosecution opposed the application, drawing the court’s attention to a 28-paragraph counter-affidavit dated July 6, 2026. Shittu argued that the defendant constituted a public risk, alleging that he was also being sought by the Department of State Services (DSS) and could interfere with witnesses or obstruct the course of justice if released on bail.
After listening to both parties, Justice Ekwo ordered that Bodejo be remanded in the EFCC’s holding facility pending the determination of his bail application.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until July 20, 2026, for ruling on the bail application.
