Nigeria’s Central Bank ordered to unfreeze bank accounts of #EndSARS protesters

A court in Nigeria’s capital city Abuja has ordered the Central Bank to unblock the accounts of 20 people who were involved in the #EndSARS protests which rocked the country last October.

Their accounts were blocked in November last year when Godwin Emefiele, Nigeria’s Central Bank governor was granted an order to freeze the accounts for 90 days on suspicion of alleged money laundering, their lawyer Femi Falana told CNN.

“We informed the court that the 90-day order expired on the 4th of February, and since there was no renewal of the order, that should be the end of the case,” Falana, a senior advocate, told CNN.


The Nigerian bank regulator did not provide any evidence to substantiate the claims and the suit was struck out by Justice Mohammed on Wednesday, more than three months after the accounts were blocked, Falana said.

“The court agreed with us; made an order for defreezing of the accounts and struck out the case based on the application of the counsel to the Central Bank,” he added.