The Department of State Services (DSS) has re-arrested the national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, shortly after he was released from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following the fulfillment of his bail conditions.
Bodejo was reportedly taken away by DSS operatives on Friday as he was leaving the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, where his lawyers had gone to secure his release.
The development has left members of his family angry and confused, with his wife, Hajiya Hauwa Bodejo, questioning why her husband would be picked up again after he had met the conditions attached to his bail.
According to Daily Trust, a source within the EFCC also confirmed that Bodejo had been released from the commission’s custody after his bail conditions were perfected.
Narrating what happened, Hauwa said DSS operatives had been stationed around the entrance of the EFCC headquarters for several hours before Bodejo was released.
She explained that the EFCC had contacted Bodejo’s lawyers on Thursday night and asked them to come with court officials for the release scheduled for Friday.
According to her, the court officials later informed the lawyers that they did not need to return to the EFCC because the necessary documents confirming the perfection of the bail conditions had already been submitted.
Hauwa said the family consequently went to the EFCC headquarters on Friday and found that Bodejo had already been brought out of detention.
She said the family was preparing to leave the premises when DSS operatives allegedly moved in.
“But to the shock of our belief, as we were leaving the EFCC premises, the officials of the DSS, whose presence we noticed around the EFCC’s gate, rushed toward my husband, and suddenly whisked him away, in the company of three vans,” she said.
The development has further heightened the family’s concern over Bodejo’s health, which Hauwa said had continued to deteriorate during his detention.
She alleged that her husband’s personal doctor had repeatedly been denied access to him since his arrest.
According to her, Bodejo has now spent almost three months in detention, prompting the family to renew its demand for justice.
Hauwa questioned the rationale behind keeping him in custody after he had fulfilled the bail conditions imposed by the court.
She argued that the latest action by the security agency did not appear to be in line with the rule of law.
Naija News recalls that Bodejo was first arraigned by the EFCC on July 9 over a multi-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering involving about $2.63 million.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja subsequently granted him bail on July 20 in the sum of ₦2 billion.
However, Bodejo remained in detention until his lawyers completed the bail conditions earlier this week.
The EFCC subsequently released him from its custody, according to a source familiar with the development.
The DSS has not publicly explained why its operatives picked up Bodejo shortly after his release by the EFCC, Naija News understands.
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