Court Freezes 32 Bank Accounts Linked to #EndBadGovernance Protests
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the freezing of 32 bank accounts believed to be connected to the recent #EndBadGovernance protests in Nigeria. The court’s decision, made on Thursday, mandates banks to impose a Post-No-Debit (PND) status on these accounts and to detain any individuals involved in transactions related to them.
Justice Emeka Nwite issued the ruling in response to an ex-parte motion filed by Ibrahim Mohammed, Counsel to the Inspector-General of Police. Mohammed claimed that the accounts were involved in activities related to terrorism financing, treason, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking.
The court’s order is designed to prevent the suspects from accessing or transferring funds, which could potentially interfere with ongoing investigations and future legal proceedings. Justice Nwite instructed the banks to disable ATM access while allowing deposits to these accounts.
The application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1219/2024, lists both individuals and organizations among the affected accounts, including PA.LIN.HO Global Service Ltd, Innocent Angel Lovet Chinyere Nkiru, Obidient Movement Multipurpose Cooperative Society, and Great Communicators Champion Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd.
The specific accounts frozen are:
– 4010073491 (Fidelity Bank)
– 1255130019 (Access Bank)
– 0006084167 (Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc)
– 0821931299 (FCMB)
– 1012007655 (FCMB)
– 0000575573 (A AG Mortgage Bank Plc)
– 1007871587 (UBA)
– 2037117333 (UBA)
– 5421031104 (ECOBANK)
– 0024541201 (Union Bank)
– 1022899050 (UBA)
– 8755008491 (Branch International Services Ltd)
– 5630208636 (Fidelity)
– 4936992542 (Fairmoney Microfinance Bank)
– 8755008499 (Branch International Financial Services Ltd)
– 2088228208 (UBA)
– 2115678044 (Zenith Bank)
– 3041823452 (First Bank)
– 1011828445 (New Edge Finance)
– 3024402748 (First Bank)
– 0161502459 (GTBank)
– 0040580047 (Access Bank)
– 0250291788 (Wema Bank)
– 6112464260 (Branch International Financial Services Ltd)
– 1000774097 (Sparkle Microfinance Bank Ltd)
– 3434649965 (Fairmoney Microfinance Bank)
– 2013556714 (KUDA Microfinance Bank)
– 3104962864 (Polaris Bank)
– 6112464267 (Branch International Finance Services Ltd)
– 8137051249 (OPAY)
– 8137051249 (PALMPAY)
Detective Gregory Woji, in his affidavit supporting the motion, revealed that preliminary investigations showed some suspects were being recruited by financiers to incite violence and destruction. The involvement of foreign nationals was also mentioned. Woji argued that freezing the accounts and ordering the arrest of the suspects was crucial for justice and the investigation’s integrity.
