A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to unfreeze the bank accounts of promoters of the #EndSARS protests last year.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed, who gave the ruling, set aside the order made by the court on November 4, 2020, which froze the accounts linked with some promoters of the #EndSARS protest.
Justice Mohammed ordered all affected banks to “immediately defreeze the affected accounts.’
Justice Mohammed struck out FHC/ABJ/CS/1384/2020 filed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on the basis of which the ex-parte order freezing the accounts for 180 days was made on November 4, 2020.
That followed the withdrawal of all processes filed by all the lawyers in relation to the suit.
Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice appeared for the CBN Governor, while and Femi Falana (SAN), appeared for owners of the frozen accounts. They announced that they had agreed to withdraw all the processes filed in order for peace to reign and for the ongoing process of reconciliation, at the various panels of inquiry on police brutality across the country, to progress unhindered.
The protests were organised against police brutality in the country. The protests spread across the country rapidly and brought all economic and social activities to a halt. Street urchins, popularly known as ‘Area Boys’ took advantage of the protests and the absence of police presence to cause havoc on public and private assets.
The protests turned bloody on the night of October 10, 2020, when men in military uniform opened fire on protesters who had occupied the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos.
The shooting, which allegedly caused many casualties, became a point of dispute between the public and the government. The government denied sending the soldiers, while most of the public believed the shooters were sent by the government.
Part of the government’s response to the protests was to order the central bank to freeze the accounts of some of the leaders of the protest, accusing them of engaging in terrorism financing.
