Detained Miyetti Allah leader seeks bail, knows fate May 30

The detained leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, has requested the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to grant him bail.

At the resumed hearing, yesterday, Bodejo’s lawyer, Ahmed Raji (SAN), urged the court to admit his client to bail.

The senior lawyer prayed for an order of the court admitting the defendant to bail on liberal terms pending the hearing and determination of the instant charge preferred against him.

Basing his request on the ground that Bodejo suffers from grave ill-health, he further argued that the offences were bailable.

Citing Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Raji said his client should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

He contended that the charge against Bodejo did not disclose any crime against him.

However, the prosecution counsel urged the court to reject Bodejo’s bail application, arguing that the suit borders on national security.

After taking arguments from the parties on the bail application sought by the defendant, Justice Inyang Ekwo, adjourned the suit till May 30 for a ruling on the bail application.

Bodejo, who has been in the custody of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Abuja, is facing charges bordering on terrorism. The Federal Government accused him of unlawfully establishing an ethnic militia group, Kungiya Zaman Lafiya.

He was arraigned in March on three counts filed by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (OAGF), in which he was accused of violating the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

But in an affidavit, Mohammed Musa, a brother to Bodejo, said the Miyetti Allah leader, who was arrested by DIA personnel on January 23, had been denied access to his lawyers, family members, friends, and well-wishers.

The deponent further said Bodejo “neither established nor has any involvement with the ethnic militia group as alleged in the charge against him.”

According to him, the essence of establishing the vigilante company was to provide security services to the members of the society, but not to commit any act of terrorism.