A Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to immediately unfreeze 20 bank accounts linked to protesters and promoters of #EndSARS.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed gave the order following the sudden withdrawal of a suit instituted against them by the CBN through its counsel, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN).
The order which, for 180 days was to enable the CBN probe the alleged crime against the defendants.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said the Federal Government was not wrong to freeze the bank accounts of 20 #EndSARS campaigners.
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, gave reasons the federal government was yet to obey the court order to unfreeze bank accounts of 20 #EndSARS protesters.
Malami said the federal government’s decision not to unfreeze the bank accounts immediately was because it was still weighing options as allowed by the law on such matters.
“Government is not wrong particularly in circumstances that justifies intense investigation. It is the result of an investigation that can determine whether the government is right or wrong as determined by the court based on the facts presented,” he said.
Speaking on the decision of the court, Malami said the decision to comply with the court order or not would be out of intimidation, adding that the government cannot be intimidated.
He said, “The decision to comply with the court order or not is a decision that is a product of intimidation; government cannot be intimidated, the government cannot in any way be compromised as far as the exercise of its constitutional powers is concerned but that does not mean the government is perpetually inconsiderate.
On October 15, 2020, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, directed banks to place a Post-No-Debit order on the accounts of 20 persons linked to the #EndSARS campaign. Three weeks after, Mike Aondoakaa, counsel to CBN obtained an ex parte order from the Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze the bank accounts of the #EndSARS campaigners for 90 days.
At the expiration of the 90-day order on February 2, 2021, CBN moved to extend the period but later withdrew the application on Wednesday.
It was on this note that Ahmed Mohammed, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, ordered the unfreezing of the bank accounts.
Some of the bank accounts holders were Bolatito Oduala, Chima Ibebunjoh, Mary Kpengwa, Saadat Bibi, Bassey Israel, Wisdom Obi, Nicholas Osazele, Ebere Idibie, Akintomide Yusuf, Uhuo Promise and Mosopefoluwa Odeseye.
The list also included Adegoke Yusuf, Umoh Ekanem, Babatunde Segun, Mulu Teghenan, Mary Oshifowora, Winifred Jacob, Victor Solomon, Idunu Williams, and Gatefield Nigeria Limited.
Counsel to the protesters, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, said the Federal Government had nothing to act on to freeze the accounts of the protesters, saying the development was a violation of constitutional provisions which guaranteed the rights of Nigerians to protests.
Falana also asked CBN to stay out of politics and stick to the business of banking. Noting that the apex bank went out of its way, Falana said: “I do hope that sufficient lessons have been learnt, particularly by CBN to desist from jumping into the political arena by attempting to freeze the accounts of people who are involved in the struggle one way or the other against the government.’’
He argued further that CBN misled the court into believing that some grave offences had been committed, which would require time to investigate.
He, however, noted that no offence was committed and that no attempt was made by CBN to investigate any individual.
The lawyer urged CBN to be more circumspect in the future, adding that the individuals whose accounts were frozen will be going to court to challenge the “gross violation” of their rights to their property.
According to him, as at yesterday, none of his clients had been invited for questioning, interrogated or charged to court for any of the alleged offences for which their accounts were frozen.