Inside EFCC’s terrorism financing, money laundering charges against Bauchi officials

The Bauchi State Government paid millions of dollars, off the banking system and via unofficial channels, to finance what it called the state’s “security commitment” between late 2023 and July 2024, a PREMIUM TIMES review of government records, official accounts and court documents shows.

A substantial portion of the payouts was disbursed in cash through intermediaries to a wide range of beneficiaries, including individuals and corporate entities.

Processed through unofficial channels and outside banking systems, the cash was handed out by intermediaries acting on behalf of government officials at unconventional locations, including a restaurant, a supermarket, and a private residence in Abuja.

An agent engaged for cash deliveries told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that no documents were signed by the beneficiaries who received these “security” payouts.

According to government records and accounts of officials and agents, one of the beneficiaries was a leader of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, who has had run-ins with Nigeria’s security and intelligence community.

Mr Bodejo reportedly spent about six months cumulatively in detention in 2024 and briefly faced terrorism charges within the year before the Attorney-General of the Federation’s office withdrew the case without giving reasons.

The Bauchi State Government, according to its records and agents, disbursed a total of $2.33 million to him in four tranches across four months, between 2023 and 2024.

In July 2024, the Accountant-General of Bauchi State, Sa’idu Abubakar, issued a memo to Governor Bala Mohammed, through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), for the “regularisation” of the disbursements already carried out from January to July 2024.

The amount captured in the memo totalled nearly $17 million ($16,985,000) and N75.2 million released to individuals, including Mr Bodejo, between January and July 2024.

On 30 December 2025, the EFCC charged the state’s Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, and three civil servants in the state with terrorism financing and sundry money laundering offences for the funds released to Mr Bodejo and others.

Mr Adamu’s co-defendants, whom the prosecution described as Bauchi State civil servants and signatories to the state government’s accounts and/or payment instruments, are Balarabe Ilelah, Aminu Mohammed Bose and Kabiru Mohammed.

The charges accused them of releasing funds to Mr Bodejo and others, who allegedly used part or all of the money to finance a terrorist organisation.

The charges also include allegations that Mr Adamu received nearly $7 million from the disbursements in a money laundering scheme. The funds allegedly released to Mr Adamu and Mr Bodejo were also said to have violated the money laundering law for taking place outside a financial institution.

The EFCC arraigned them before the Federal High Court in Abuja on the terrorism financing charges on 31 December 2025.

Governor Mohammed, whose aides have been charged by the EFCC in various cases over the past year, has fumed over the trial. Mr Mohammed, who enjoys immunity from prosecution as a sitting governor, said the EFCC was targeting his officials at the behest of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, a political rival within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In response, the EFCC described Mr Mohammed’s claim as wild.

The anti-corruption agency stated that it is an independent body established to combat economic and financial crimes. “The attempt to portray it as a pliable agency that panders to the demands of certain political interests is therefore mischievous and condemnable,” it said.

Amid the public spat between Mr Mohammed and the EFCC, trial judge Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled on 6 January that the allegations against Mr Adamu and his co-defendants were so weighty, and documents filed as proof of evidence in support of the charges so compelling that he could not grant them bail.

PREMIUM TIMES obtained some of the court documents filed by the EFCC, including memos on the fund releases and approvals, as well as the extrajudicial statements of some of the state’s officials and agents.

Together, the documents provide a fuller picture of the unofficial, off-bank system that drew billions from the treasury of the Bauch State Government and disbursed them to an array of individual and corporate accounts between 2023 and 2024.

Bodejo: Target of security agencies, darling to Bauchi govt

Bello Bodejo is the national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a group of herders-turned-political pressure group, mainly comprising Fulani.

Media reports and open source details reveal that he hails from Nasarawa State and was born in 1979.

In January 2024, Mr Bodejo launched a nomadic vigilante group in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, drawing public attention and scrutiny.

He said the group, which had already recruited more than a thousand Fulani youths at the time, aimed to help secure the livelihoods of farmers and herders and share information and intelligence with security agencies.

But the move did not go down well with Nigeria’s security and intelligence community.

The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) arrested him on 23 January 2024, accusing him of establishing an ethnic militia group, Kungiya Zaman Lafiya. While he was in custody, the Nasarawa State Police Command declared that the group was not recognised as a vigilante group.

In March 2024, the AGF’s office arraigned him before the Federal High Court in Abuja on three terrorism charges brought under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Apart from the alleged offence of unlawfully establishing an ethnic militia group, other charges include providing material support, assistance and transportation for activities connected with acts of terrorism.

In April 2024, the defendant applied for bail, but his request was turned down by the court the following month.

However, he was later released from custody after the AGF’s office withdrew the charges against him without giving any explanation on 30 May 2024.

Meanwhile, he was arrested again for undisclosed reasons on 9 December 2024 by the military, which transferred him to the custody of the State Security Service (SSS).

Following a legal challenge of his detention, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court ordered his release from custody on 30 December 2024.

Mr Badejo’s group, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, is a socio-cultural association of predominantly Fulani pastoralists, whose members are often accused of violent clashes with farmers and residents in Benue, Nasarawa and other states.

Some of their members have also been blamed for being responsible for kidnap-for-ransom in different parts of the country. However, the group has vehemently denied the allegations.

How Bodejo received millions of dollars from Bauchi govt – Agents, Official

A former Accountant-General of the State, Saidu Abubakar, explained Governor Mohammed’s role in the payments to Mr Bodejo. Mr Abubakar, in July 2024, wrote the memo that sought the governor’s approval for the regularisation of the disbursements between January and July 2024.

The former official, in a statement he wrote during EFCC investigation last year, said he facilitated the disbursement to Mr Bodejo based on the governor’s instruction, maintaining that he had no personal relationship with the Miyetti Allah leader or knowledge of the purpose of the money paid to him.

“Why payments were made to Bello Bodejo was based on the governor’s directives, verbally and via WhatsApp chats,” Mr Abubakar, 50, wrote. He added that the payments were regularised by the governor, adding, “I was also asked for the purpose of the payments, and I said I did not know the purpose of the payments.”

In another part of his statement, he said the governor gave disbursement directives to pay him and other persons “via text and WhatsApp messages in addition to phone calls and physical verbal directives.”

He cited instances of when he received the governor’s instruction to pay “the usual N10 million monthly to Malam Nura Suleiman Sale” and “N250 million to Northern Elders.”

“For instance, on 22 June 2024, the governor directed me via WhatsApp chat to give $100,000 to Bello Badejo,” he wrote.

He said the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Adamu, was present on some occasions when the governor gave physical and verbal instructions.

Yakubu Takai, one of the fund delivery intermediaries, gave a vivid picture of how Mr Bodejo was allegedly paid.

In the statement he wrote during interrogation by the EFCC on 11 August 2024, Mr Takai recalled acting on the instructions of Danlawan Abdulmumin, who, by accounts of other interviewees, received billions of naira directly from the state government and coordinated their disbursement. Mr Abdulmumin received funds from government sources through different accounts, including those of his flagship D Nice City No. 1 Ltd, which is based in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, the hub of black market forex trading in the capital city.

Mr Takai, who identified himself as a businessman operating from Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, said, on different occasions, Mr Abdulmumini instructed him to collect US dollars in cash from Kabiru Sale Mohammed of MAHR Multipurpose Ventures of Zone 4, Abuja, for disbursement to Mr Bodejo.

He said he collected a total of $2.33 million, all in cash, from Mr Mohammed, who is also based in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, and physically delivered it in four tranches to Mr Bodejo. (PREMIUM TIMES)

According to him, on each of the four occasions that he received the money in parts, he contacted Mr Bodejo through a phone number he claimed Mr Abdulmumini provided. Mr Bodejo would then describe the location for their meeting to receive the money, Mr Taika said.

He shared the dates and locations where he delivered the total $2.33 million in four tranches to Mr Bodejo between December 2023 and March 2024.

According to him, he delivered the first tranche of $100,000 to Mr Bodejo in cash at CT View Restaurant Zone 4, Abuja, on 26 December 2023.

He said the second tranche of $980,000 was delivered to Mr Bodejo in cash at Mr Bodejo’s residence at Brains and Hammers behind Old CBN Garki 2, Abuja, on 7 February 2024.

The next delivery, according to Mr Takai, took place at Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, on 3 March 2024, when he said he handed over $750,000 in cash to Mr Bodejo.

He said he delivered the last tranche of $500,000 in cash to Mr Bodejo on 20 March 2024.

Mr Takai, who said he never knew Mr Bodejo until Mr Abdulmumini introduced him, reiterated that “All the United States of America dollars totalling $2,330,000, I personally handed over in cash to Bello Bodejo.”

Point to ponder about Bodejo payments

Mr Takai’s account of cash delivery to Mr Bodejo raises a point to ponder, which will perhaps be clearer at the trial stage.

Three out of the four occasions during which Mr Takai claimed to have delivered funds to Mr Bodejo coincided with the period of Mr Bodejo’s incarceration.

Save the delivery that allegedly took place in December 2023, the rest of them, according to Mr Takai, happened at different locations in Abuja chosen by Mr Bodejo between February and March 2023.

Yet, several media reports show that Mr Bodejo was arrested by the DIA on 23 January 2024 and held till July 2024.

In fact, the Federal High Court in Abuja rejected his bail application on 27 May 2024.

He remained in custody till July 2024, when the AGF’s office withdrew the terrorism charges brought against him, ending his trial.

Compounding the puzzling situation, Kabiru Mohammed, from whom Mr Takai claimed to have received the dollars he delivered, confirmed in a statement he wrote during an interrogation by the EFCC on 11 August 2024, that he was present when Mr Takai handed the total sum of $2.33 million to Mr Bodejo at all the locations.

Mr Mohammed said he similarly witnessed the delivery of funds by Mr Takai to the finance commissioner, Mr Adamu, at various times.

How Mr Bodejo came to receive money from the Bauchi State government’s agent and chose the venue, including his house, to take the funds, when he was reportedly still in detention, remains a puzzle to be resolved.

How finance commissioner received nearly $7 million

Mr Takai also narrated how he delivered about $7 million to the Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu.

The delivery, which consisted of eight transactions between April 2024 and July 2024, formed the basis for the sundry money laundering charges contained in the terrorism financing case.

Mr Takai said he received a total of $6,965,000 from one Yusuf Haruna based on Mr Abdulmumini’s instructions, “and handed over all in cash to the current commissioner of finance, Bauchi State, Mr Yakubu Adamu.”

He said he met Mr Adamu after calling him through the phone number provided by Mr Abdulmumini.

As in Mr Bodejo’s case, he said, Mr Adamu chose and described their meeting places on each occasion.

He recalled delivering the first tranche of $2 million to Mr Adamu on 4 April 2024 at CT View Restaurant, Zone 4, Abuja, which, according to his narrative, hosted two of their subsequent meetings.

Three meetings followed in May.

On 5 May 2024, he said he gave Mr Adamu a cash sum of $50,000 at Sahad Stores located in the Central Area of Abuja.

On 15 May 2024, Mr Takai said he delivered $915,000 to Mr Adamu at Asokoro, Abuja.

Mr Adamu chose Amingo Supermarket, Wuse 2, Abuja, for their third meeting in May, according to Mr Takai. At the supermarket, Mr Takai said he handed over $1.5 million in cash to Mr Adamu on 27 May 2024.

The rest of the deliveries took place in July, according to Mr Takai’s account. He said he handed over $200,000 to Mr Adamu at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja, on 1 July 2024. This was followed by another delivery on 4 July, when Mr Takai said he handed over $50,000 to Mr Adamu.

Mr Takai said he delivered $250,000 to Mr Adamu at NNPC Headquarters, Abuja, on 6 July 2024.

On 25 July 2024, Mr Takai said he handed $2 million in cash to Mr Adamu at CT View Restaurant, Zone 4, Abuja.

He stressed that neither Mr Adamu nor Mr Bodejo gave any “acknowledgement of receiving the above stated amounts from me”.

Abdulmumuni: The Bauchi’s pre-eminent cash purveyor

The centrality of Mr Abdulmumini to the money vending system emerged in at least six statements written by 36-year-old Yusuf Haruna.

Mr Haruna, a physics graduate and holder of a master’s degree in nuclear physics, was the person from whom Mr Takai claimed to have received the $6.95 million he handed to Mr Adamu, the finance commissioner, on Mr Abdulmumini’s instruction.

Mr Haruna, who authored at least six statements dated 3 April 2025, 26 May 2025, 1 August 2025, 11 August 2025, 25 August 2025, and 26 August 2025 during EFCC interrogations, gave detailed descriptions of the funds he received from Bauchi State Government-related sources.

He detailed how he received cash inflows from the accounts and followed Mr Abdulmumuni’s instructions on how to distribute them.

PREMIUM TIMES tracked at least N7.6 billion Mr Haruna received in his trading accounts, including those of AMY Trading Concept Ltd. He said he registered the business in 2023 for trading in groundnut, palm oil and forex, among others.

Some of the sources of the inflows are the Bauchi State Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Office, Bauchi State Sub-Treasury, and Bauchi Investment Corporation MFB. Other corporate accounts, which did not carry the state government’s name, were believed to have sent money to Mr Haruna as the agent of the state government.

Most of the funds received went to the account of D-Nice No.1 City Ltd, operated by Mr Abdulmumini. Some were disbursed through bank transfers. Others were delivered in cash, in naira or dollars – in Bauchi, Dubai and Abuja.

Disbursements like these, which occurred from July 2023 to 2025, are reflected in separate charges the EFCC has filed against several serving and former officials of Governor Mohammed’s administration in the last few months.

The latest include the finance commissioner, Mr Adamu, whom the EFCC arraigned along with others last month.

Apart from the terrorism financing charges brought against him, there is also a pending money laundering case filed against Mr Adamu and a corporate co-defendant in December.

While the court granted him bail in the money laundering case on 2 January, it denied him and his co-defendants bail in the terrorism financing charges on 5 January.

In April 2025, the EFCC arraigned the Accountant General of Bauchi State, Sirajo Jaja, along with a bureau de change operator, on charges of transferring and converting billions of naira belonging to the Bauchi State Government.

The defendants allegedly committed the offences between 10 July 2024 and 25 November 2024.

The EFCC arraigned them for the offences before a trial judge, Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Apart from Mr Jaja and his co-accused, the bureau de change operator, other suspects, including a former Secretary to the State Government, Ibrahim Kashim, were named to be part of the alleged fraud but were said to be at large.

Mr Kashim resigned as the state’s SSG in December 2024, just about a month after the part of the transactions complained of in the EFCC charges allegedly took place in November 2024.

The former official recently denied any wrongdoing regarding the allegations.

Meanwhile, the trial court has set 13 January for the commencement of the terrorism financing trial involving Mr Adamu.

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