Court Remands Yahaya Bello in Kuje Prison over Alleged N110bn Fraud, Details Emerge

• The FCT high court has refused to grant Yahaya Bello bail in his ongoing money laundering trial
• Yahaya Bello appeared in court on Tuesday, but Justice Maryanne Anenih dismissed his bail application and gave a reason
• Following the court's decision, the former governor was sent to Kuje prison in Abuja pending his bail application

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court remanded Yahaya Bello, a former governor of Kogi state, in custody at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending his bail application on Tuesday, December 10.

The court also adjourned the case to January 29, February 25, and February 27, 2025, for further proceedings.

Legit.ng reported that in an earlier ruling on Tuesday, Justice Maryanne Anenih dismissed Bello’s bail application, because it was submitted on November 22, before his November 26 arrest and November 27 arraignment.

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Why Bello was denied bail

Justice Anenih held that the application, having been filed when Bello was neither in custody nor before the court, was incompetent.

Bello is standing trial, along with his nephew, and two others, in an alleged N110 billion money laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

As reported by Channels TV, she held that the defendant’s counsel, JB Daudu (SAN), had told the court that he had submitted sufficient facts to grant him bail.

In two other rulings, Justice Anenih granted bail to each of the two Bello’s co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, at N300 million with two sureties in like sum, The Nation reported.

Read more about Yahaya Bello vs the EFCC here:

• Yahaya Bello vs EFCC: Ex-gov appears in FCT High Court over alleged Kogi fraud, video trends
• Court rejects EFCC’s request to arraign ex-gov Yahaya Bello without lawyers

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Gunmen abduct Yahaya Bello's aide

In another development, Legit.ng reported that gunmen suspected to be kidnappers reportedly abducted Kabiru Onyene, an aide to Yahaya Bello.

Onyene was abducted in his office, at Okene in Kogi around 7.05pm on Monday, December 9.

Ggun-wielding men in their numbers reportedly took him to an unknown destination.

Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng