Court Mandates Bauchi Finance Commissioner to Make Weekly Reports to DSS

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday directed the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, and three other defendants to report weekly to the Department of State Services as part of the conditions for their bail in an ongoing terrorism financing trial.

Justice Mohammed Umar issued the order while granting the defendants bail in the sum of N100 million each. The judge said the applicants had placed sufficient material before the court to justify the exercise of its discretion in their favour.

As additional bail conditions, Justice Umar ordered each defendant to provide two sureties who must be a permanent secretary and a director within the civil service. He also directed them to surrender their international passports to the court registry.

The matter was adjourned to February 26 for the commencement of trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting Adamu alongside Balarabe Ilelah, Aminu Bose and Kabiru Mohammed on a 10-count charge bordering on terrorism financing and money laundering. The co-defendants are described as senior civil servants in Bauchi State.

The defendants were previously denied bail in December by Justice Emeka Nwite, who held that the allegations were too serious to warrant their release. Following the reassignment of the case, they were re-arraigned before Justice Umar on January 16 and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Arguments on their bail application were heard and the ruling was delivered on January 21.

In support of the bail request, defence counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), told the court that fresh facts had emerged since the earlier refusal of bail. He argued that Bello Bodejo, President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and a figure referenced in nine of the counts, had never been convicted of any terrorism-related offence. He added that although Bodejo was previously charged by the Federal Government in a separate case, the matter was withdrawn and dismissed on May 29, 2024.

Uche also contended that there was no proscription order in the Federal Government’s Official Gazette designating Bodejo or his organisation as a terrorist entity, citing Section 48(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. He said this absence weakened the prosecution’s case and supported the grant of bail.

The defence further relied on provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, urging the court to exercise its discretion in favour of the defendants.

Adamu, a former branch manager of Polaris Bank Plc in Bauchi State, and the other accused were first arraigned on December 31, 2025. On January 5, 2026, Justice Nwite ordered their remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre, citing concerns over national security and public safety, before the case was later reassigned after the court vacation.

The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/705/2025, was filed on December 30, 2025 by EFCC counsel, Samuel Chime. One of the counts alleges that the defendants, along with two others said to be at large, conspired between January and May 2024 to provide $2.3 million in cash for the benefit of Bello Bodejo and his associates.

The funds were alleged to have been approved by the Bauchi State Government and used wholly or partly to finance a terrorist group, an offence said to be contrary to Section 26(1) and punishable under Section 21(2)(a) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.