A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has frozen the bank accounts of 32 individuals and companies linked to the 10-day #EndBadGovernance Protest organised across the country pending investigation and prosecution of the case.
Delivering judgement, the justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling on the ex-parte motion ordered the banks to apprehend the account holders.
The court also ordered the arrest of persons transacting business on the said accounts.
The motion for the suspension of the accounts was moved by counsel for the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Mohammed.
While granting the request dated August 20, Nwite directed the banks to contact the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as soon as they were apprehended.
“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 ruled.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the ruling was issued on Thursday August 22 but the certified true copy of the order was sighted on Sunday August 25 in Abuja.
The IGP Kayode Egbetokun filed the application marked (FHC/ABJ/CS/1219/2024) seeking to freeze the accounts of 11 individuals and organisations suspected of involvement in “unlawful activities”.
The IGP argues that allowing transactions on these accounts could hinder the investigation and render any subsequent court orders ineffective.
The IGP requests that the court grant an order freezing the accounts and authorising the immediate arrest of the suspects to prevent them from accessing or transferring funds, thereby safeguarding the investigation and potential prosecution.
The ICIR reported that insecurity, inflation and a hike in the cost of living among others pushed many Nigerians to stage a nationwide protest.
President Bola Tinubu had stopped fuel subsidies and devalued the local currency – the naira – thus causing a spiral hike in food and commodity prices and making life unbearing for citizens.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance