The Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has been accused of freezing the bank accounts of individuals who were at the forefront of the recent #ENDSARS protests which rocked several parts of the country last month.
The protests saw tens of thousands of youths take the streets across the country in protests against police brutality and exploitation- especially from men of the now defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
However, the federal government has recently turned its attention into hounding and harrassing the individuals who gave the protests its bite on local and international media.
Some #EndSARS promoters, in a report by The Punch, said their banks informed them that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed that their accounts be frozen.
The apex bank reportedly instructed banks to place a “Post No Debit” restriction on the accounts.
Bassey Israel, a pharmacist, who was in charge of the #EndSARS medical team in Port Harcourt, reportedly said his account with Access Bank marked 003397XXXX has been frozen since October 15.
“I am in charge of End SARS medical team in Port Harcourt and we had people donating for medical supplies, food, water, ambulance services and these donations were made directly into my account and of course these donations had End SARS descriptions so I think that was how they were able to flag my account,” he was quoted to have said.
“I noticed that on October 15, I was trying to make a debit transaction on my account and noticed that there was a restriction.
“So, I called the bank and I was told that there was indeed a restriction but I should go to any branch near me and when I did so, the branch manager sent a mail to the branch where I opened the account. The response to the mail was that there was a directive from the CBN to restrict the account.
“The lady was surprised and even asked me if I had any issue with the CBN and I responded that if I had any issue with the CBN, I wouldn’t be in the bank in the first place, I would be on the run. I asked what could be done and she gave me no answer. She had to show me the mail on her computer which I read. It was directly from the CBN and it read, ‘Place this account on PND.”
Last Sunday, Modupe Odele, an #EndSARS promoter revealed that officials of the Nigerian Immigration Services stopped her from travelling to the Maldives where she had planned to celebrate her birthday.
