Bauchi Commissioner Gets N400m Bail In Alleged Terrorism Financing Case

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, granted bail to the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, and three others standing trial over alleged terrorism financing.

Adamu and the three others were granted N400m bail.

Justice Mohammed Umar ordered each of the four defendants to deposit N100m and provide two sureties in like sum.

He ordered that one of the sureties must be a serving permanent secretary, while the other must be a serving director in the civil service.

The court further directed the defendants to surrender their international passports and barred them from travelling out of the country without prior permission.

They were also ordered to report to the Bauchi State office of the Department of State Services (DSS) every Monday.
The matter was adjourned to March 26 for hearing.

Adamu, a former branch manager of Polaris Bank Plc in Bauchi State, was arraigned on December 31, 2025, alongside three alleged accomplice; Balarabe Abdullahi Ilelah, Aminu Mohammed Bose and Kabiru Yahaya Mohammed, all civil servants, on a 10-count charge bordering on conspiracy, money laundering and terrorism financing.

An earlier bail application filed by the defendants was refused in a ruling delivered on June 5 by Justice Emeka Nwite, who held that the offences allegedly posed a threat to national security.

The court had ruled that granting bail at that stage could endanger public safety, notwithstanding the constitutional presumption of innocence guaranteed under Section 36(5) of the Constitution.

Justice Nwite, who sat as a vacation judge, stressed that the nature of the allegations, the likely punishment upon conviction and the prosecution’s concern about the defendants’ availability for trial justified the refusal of bail.

The judge consequently ordered an accelerated hearing of the case.

However, in his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Umar, to whom the case file was later reassigned, held that the prosecution failed to place sufficient material before the court to establish that the defendants constituted a flight risk.

He said he was therefore minded to grant bail pending the determination of the charge.

The Federal Government alleged that the defendants engaged in cash transactions outside the banking system amounting to about $9.7m, in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

According to the prosecution, between January and May 2024, Adamu, allegedly acting in concert with the Bauchi State Accountant-General, Sirajo Jaja, one Samaila Irmiya Liman, and the other defendants, who were signatories to state government accounts, handed over $2.3m in cash to Bello Bodejo, President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, and persons associated with him.

Bodejo was previously arrested and charged by the Federal Government over alleged terrorism-related offences following the unveiling of a vigilante group in Nasarawa State.

Although those charges were later withdrawn in May 2024 before his arraignment, the prosecution alleged in the instant case that funds were illegally sourced and disbursed to him and his associates with knowledge that they could be used to finance terrorist activities.

The prosecution further alleged that the transactions were carried out with the approval of the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, and disclosed that some individuals linked to the alleged offences, including the state Accountant-General, are currently at large.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the counts and urged the court to grant them bail pending the conclusion of their trial.

One of the counts in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/705/2025 and dated December 30, 2025, accused Adamu of receiving cash payments totalling $6.95m outside a financial institution, contrary to Sections 2(1) and 19(1)(d) and punishable under Section 19(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.