Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo, of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has fixed May 29 to begin the trial of detained leader of the pan-Fulani cultural group, Miyetti-Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo.
The court fixed the date after dismissing the application for bail of the accused person. At the last adjourned date, the bail application was fixed for ruling and commencement of trial of Bodejo, but his absence in court stalled the trial from going ahead.
Shortly after the court fixed the date for trial, his counsel, Dr Ahmed Raji, (SAN), expressed the readiness of his client to stand trial.
Raji said since the court has ordered expeditious hearingn in the matter, there would be no need to appeal the ruling on his bail for now.
The Miyetti-Allah Kautal Hore leader was arrested by the Defence Intelligence Agency, (DIA), for allegedly establishing an ethnic militia group unlawfully.
The group, ‘?ungiya Zaman Lafiya‘, the DIA alleged, was established to promote terrorism.
Recall that Bodejo has been in the custody of the Agency in Abuja, from where he was arraigned in March on a 3-count charge filed by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), with accusation of violating the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The Miyetti Allah’s leader has denied all the charges.
Before the court ruled on his bail application, Dr. Raji had pleaded with Justice Ekwo to admit his client to bail on various grounds, ranging from ill-health to the enforcement of his fundamental rights.
The senior lawyer predicated the bail request on the ground that Bodejo “suffers from grave ill-health and that the offences are bailable”.
The counsel also asked the court for “an order admitting the defendant to bail on liberal terms pending the hearing and determination of the charges preferred against him”.
In an affidavit deposed to by one of his brothers, Mohammed Musa, in support of the bail bid, he said the Miyetti-Allah leader, who was arrested by DIA personnel on January 23, has “been denied access to his lawyers, family members, friends and well wishers”.
Musa described Bodejo as a “patriotic Nigerian citizen, who goes about his business within the ambit of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
However, the Federal Government, through its lawyer, Y.A Imana, urged the court to reject Bodejo’s bail application on the grounds that charges against the defendant borders on threat to national security.
