Court Orders Banks To Freeze Accounts Of 32 #EndBadGovernance Protesters

A Federal High Court in Abuja has directed banks to freeze the accounts of 32 individuals and companies allegedly linked to the #EndBadGovernance protest.

Osun Defender recalls that the protest, which began on August 1, saw young Nigerians take to the streets nationwide, rallying against economic hardship and rising inflation under the hashtag #EndBadGovernance.

According to NAN, the court’s order came following an ex-parte motion presented by Ibrahim Mohammed, counsel for the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

The presiding judge, Emeka Nwite, mandated banks to block all transactions on the identified accounts, preventing any withdrawals or transfers while still allowing funds to be deposited.

NAN reports that the court’s ruling, dated August 20, was made public on Sunday in Abuja. The accounts are suspected of being involved in unlawful activities, including criminal conspiracy, terrorism financing, and treasonable felony.

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“That the banks are hereby directed by this honourable court to issue details of the account package(s) and to place a Post-No-Debit (PND) on the accounts, disable the ATM while allowing inflow into the said accounts as from the date of this court order,” the judge said.

“The I-G, in the application marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1219/2024, had listed PA.LIN.HO Global Service Ltd, Innocent Angel Lovet Chinyere Nkiru, Obidient Movement Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Innocent Angel Lovet, Great Communicators Champion Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd as 1st to 5th respondents respectively,” the CTC reads.

“Others include Great Communicators Champion Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd, Opaluwa Eleojo Bob-Simon, NUEE State Chapter, Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi, Adaramoye Michael Tobiloba, Popoola Festus as 6th to 11th respondents respectively.”

Mohammed said the accounts are subject of investigation and are reasonably suspected to be warehousing proceeds of unlawful activities or fraud.

He said the accounts were used to promote the offence of criminal conspiracy, terrorism financing, treasonable felony, cyberbullying and cyberstalking.

“If there is any dealing with the account by way of withdrawal or transfer to another account by the persons under investigation/investigator and the persons that have absolute power to deal with the account will render nugatory any consequential order(s) which the court may make at the conclusion of this application,” he said.

“That the accused persons were involved in hosting another country’s flag in order to undermine the sovereignty of the Nigerian state.”

In the affidavit in support of the motion, Gregory Woji, a detective attached to force criminal investigation department, said preliminary investigation revealed that some suspects arrested were being recruited by some financiers to cause mayhem and destroy lives and property.

He added that the protest financiers were sending money to recruit the indigents and other vulnerable individuals to carry banners and overthrow a democratically elected government.

Woji said some foreign nationals were the “arrow head in the unscrupulous act of treasonable felony and promoting terrorism financing in Nigeria”.

“That it will be in the interest of justice to grant this request by freezing the account of the said suspects and ordering their immediate arrest on sighting them pending the outcome of the investigation and possible prosecution,” Woji told the court.