Over N70 million has been raised to fund various activities of #ENDSARS protesters, The Nation has learnt.
Giving an update on the financial status of the support garnered so far, one of the leading NGOs backing the protest, Feminist Coalition on its verified Twitter page, announced N73,298,499.13 has been raised as of October 17 through crowdfunding.
According to the group, donations have been used on First Aid, masks, bail, hospital bills, food, water, glucose for protesters and provision of legal aid to protestors arrested on the frontline.
It also disclosed over N20 million has been disbursed to support the protests in the past few days.
It tweeted: “On Oct 17th we donated N3,520,000 to 11 protests and made a donation to @endsarsresponse for food, water, ambulances, and other support. Total ₦ raised: N73,298,499.13; Total ₦ disbursed: N23,708,280.00.
Balances
NGN 49,590,219.13
USD 11,474.34
CAD 5,595.89
GBP 5,733.49
EUR 875.42
GHS 1,256.70
KES 53,016.60
BTC 5.72695197.”
The Nation had reported the #EndSARS protests have not only gained nationwide support but also attracted Nigerians in Diaspora with simultaneously protests across several cities around the world.
The group, which has made the fund-raising initiative open to the public and to ensure accountability, has received donations from several Nigerians, firms, companies and start-ups.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has also shown solidarity with #EndSARS protesters with a customised icon hashtag.
He has called for donations to support the ongoing #EndSARS protest in Nigeria.
“Donate via #Bitcoin to help #EndSARS,” Dorsey wrote in his tweet calling for donations while also retweeting a tweet from @feminist_co, the official handle of a group of Nigerian feminists.
“We’re moving to only accepting donations in Bitcoin using BTC Pay. BTC Pay is a free, secure, decentralised and censorship-resistant platform, which makes it our best option, given the past few days #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeria,” @feminist_co also tweeted.
Nigerians across the globe have taken to the streets and online for almost two weeks to protest against police brutality, killings, extortion and harassment.