The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has officially gotten a court order from the Federal High Court Abuja Division to freeze the accounts of individuals and businesses perceived to be #EndSARS promoters.
The accounts listed by the CBN in the court order are:
- Bolatoto Racheal Oduala
- Chima David Ibebunjoh
- Mary Doose Kpengwa
- Gatefield Nigeria Limited
- Saadat Temitope Bibi
- Bassey Victor Israel
- Wisdom Busaosowo Obi
- Nicholas Ikhalea Osazele
- Ebere Idibie
- Akintomide Lanre Yusuf
- Uhuo Ezenwanyo Promise
- Mosopefoluwa Odeseye
- Adegoke Pemilerin Emmanuel
- Umoh Grace Ekanem
- Babatunde Victor Segun
- Mulu Louis Teghenan
- Mary Oshifowora
- Winifred Akpevweoghene Jacob
- Victor Solomon
- Idunu A. Williams
The exparte motion to freeze these accounts was filed by Michael Aoondakaa SAN on behalf of Godwin Emefiele, Governor CBN on the 20th of October.
The presiding judge, A.R. Mohammed after hearing the submission of Aoondakaa, therefore, granted a mandatory order empowering the Plaintiff applicant to direct the head office of Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank of Africa, and Zenith Bank to freeze forthwith all transactions on the 20 bank accounts listed hereunder and other banks of the defendants/respondents for a period of 90-days pending the outcome of investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by the CBN.
The presiding judge also granted an order to freeze forthwith all transactions on the underlisted 20 bank accounts on the list annexed to the application as EXHIBIT A and all other Bank accounts of the Defendants/Respondents for a period of 180 days pending the outcome of investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by the CBN.
The CBN did not offer any explanation on the exact type of investigations it is caring out on the 20 accounts. But there is no doubt that it is a way to ‘punish’ the perceived promoters of the protests. Additionally, there have been reports that there is a no-fly list containing names of #EndSARs promoters.
Recall that during the heat of the #EndSARS, some Nigerians had complained on social media that their account had being blocked by their banks.
The #EndSARS Protest
#EndSARS according to Wikipedia is a decentralised social movement and series of mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria. The slogan calls for the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a notorious unit of the Nigerian Police with a long record of abuses.
The protests which take its name from the slogan started in 2017 as a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #ENDSARS to demand the disbanding of the unit by the Nigerian government.
After experiencing a revitalisation in October 2020 following more revelations of the abuses of the unit, mass demonstrations occurred throughout the major cities of Nigeria, accompanied by vociferous outrage on social media platforms.
About 28 million tweets bearing the hashtag have been accumulated on Twitter alone. Solidarity protests and demonstrations by Nigerians in diaspora and sympathizers occurred in many major cities of the world. The protests are notable for its patronage by a demographic that is made of entirely young Nigerians.
