CBN Cannot Appeal The Unfreezing Of #EndSARS Campaigners’ Accounts, Says Falana
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana says the Central Bank of Nigeria cannot appeal the court judgment unfreezing the bank account of 20 #EndSARS campaigners.
Falana, on Thursday, said the apex bank failed to conduct an investigation into the allegation of terrorism and money laundering levelled against the #EndSARS campaigners, and as such, no offense was established.
The human rights activist noted that while both sides in the matter have withdrawn from the case, his clients would go on to challenge the “gross violation” of their rights to their property. This would involve
dragging the federal government and the CBN to court for trampling on their rights by unlawfully freezing their accounts last October out of “sheer intimidation”. The senior advocate asked the CBN to stay out of politics and stick to the business of banking.
Following the #EndSARS protest that rocked the nation in October 2020, the CBN obtained an injunction from the court to freeze the accounts of certain individuals and a public affairs company linked to the protests, a move which Mr. Falana describes as a case of sheer intimidation.
Falana argued that the apex bank went out of its way to freeze the campaigners’ accounts, stressing that the CBN misled the court into believing that some grave offenses had been committed, which would require time to run an investigation.
“I do hope that sufficient lessons have been learnt particularly by the Central Bank to desist from jumping into the political arena by attempting to freeze the accounts of people who are involved in the struggle one way or the other against the government,” he stated.