The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, and three others to report weekly to the Department of State Services until the end of their ongoing terror financing trial.
Justice Mohammed Umar gave the order as part of the conditions attached to the N100m bail he granted the defendants on Wednesday.
While ruling on their bail applications, the judge held that the defendants placed sufficient materials before the court to warrant the exercise of its discretion in their favour judicially and judiciously.
He ordered each defendant to produce two sureties who must be a permanent secretary and a director in the civil service.
Justice Umar further directed the defendants to deposit their passports with the court registry.
The judge adjourned the matter until February 26 for the commencement of the trial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is procuting the defendants on 10 counts, bordering on terrorism financing and money laundering.
Standing trial alongside Adamu are Balarabe Ilelah, Aminu Bose and Kabiru Mohammed, described as senior civil servants in Bauchi State.
The defendants were initially denied bail by Justice Emeka Nwite in December, when he sat as a vacation judge.
Justice Nwite ruled that the charges against them were too weighty for them to be released on bail.
However, following the reassignment of the case, the defendants were re-arraigned before Justice Umar on January 16 and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Their bail application was subsequently argued and adjourned to January 21 for ruling.
In urging the court to grant bail, defence counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), told the court that new and additional facts had emerged since the earlier refusal of bail by a sister court.
Uche argued that Bello Bodejo, President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, named in nine of the 10 counts, had never been convicted for any terrorism-related offence by any court.
He said although Bodejo was charged by the Federal Government in a separate matter, the charge was later withdrawn and dismissed by the court on May 29, 2024.
The lawyer also contended that there was no proscription order in the Federal Government’s Official Gazette designating Bodejo or his organisation as a terrorist entity, relying on Section 48(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
According to him, the absence of such designation undermined the prosecution’s case and justified the grant of bail.
He further cited 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 defendants were first arraigned on December 31, 2025, before Justice Nwite.
On January 5, 2026, Justice Nwite refused their bail application, holding that the offences charged posed a threat to national security and public safety.
He ordered their remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre and fixed January 13 for trial.
However, the case file was returned to the Chief Judge for reassignment after the end of the court’s vacation.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/705/2025, was filed on December 30, 2025 by EFCC counsel, Samuel Chime.
In one of the counts, the defendants and two others said to be at large, were accused of conspiring between January and May 2024 to provide $2.3m in cash for the benefit of Bello Bodejo and persons associated with him.
The funds were alleged to have been approved by the Bauchi State Government and used, in whole or in part, 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.
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