A Federal Court in Abuja has frozen the bank accounts of 32 individuals and companies linked to the 10-day #EndBadGovernance Protest held nationwide.
Entrepreneurng learnt that the accounts were frozen pending further investigation and prosecution.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the order following an ex-parte motion by Ibrahim Mohammed, counsel for the Inspector-General of Police.
The judge also instructed the banks involved to detain the account holders or anyone attempting to transact on the accounts in question.
In the ruling, which was issued on Thursday and made public on Sunday, Justice Nwite directed the banks to provide detailed information about the affected accounts, impose a Post-No-Debit (PND) order, and deactivate any associated ATM cards while allowing deposits to continue.
The frozen accounts include those at Fidelity Bank (account number 4010073491), Access Bank (1255130019), Abbey Mortgage Multipurpose Bank Plc (0006084167), FCMB (0821931299 and 1012007655), A AG Mortgage Bank Plc (0000575573), UBA (1007871587 and 2037117333), ECOBANK (5421031104), Union Bank (0024541201), and several others.
The Inspector-General’s application, identified as FHC/ABJ/CS/1219/2024, listed several entities and individuals as respondents, including PA.LIN.HO Global Service Ltd, Chinyere Nkiru, Obidient Movement Multipurpose Cooperative Society, and others.
In his argument, Mohammed claimed that the accounts in question were under investigation for potentially holding proceeds from unlawful activities. He asserted that any transactions involving these accounts would undermine ongoing investigations and any orders the court might issue.
The police argued that the accounts were allegedly used to fund criminal activities such as conspiracy, terrorism financing, treason, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking. They also accused the individuals involved of hosting a foreign flag to challenge Nigeria’s sovereignty.
Gregory Woji, a detective with the Force Criminal Investigation Department, supported the motion with an affidavit, stating that initial investigations indicated that the funds were used to recruit people to cause chaos and threaten the government. Woji added that the investigation revealed involvement from foreign nationals in these illegal activities.
The court’s order to freeze the accounts and apprehend the suspects is intended to prevent any further transactions that could compromise the investigation.
