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FG Allegedly Freezing #EndSARS Protesters Bank Account

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Bank accounts of individuals who promoted the #EndSARS protests are allegedly being frozen by the Federal Government.

For almost two weeks, Nigerians across the nation and beyond, stormed the streets to protest against police brutality.

Their protest necessitated the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad (SARS) unit of the police.

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However, two weeks after the protests, allegations that the government have begun to clamp down on those who promoted the campaign have started to spread.

Some #EndSARS promoters, in a report by The Punch, said their banks informed them that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed that their accounts be frozen.

The apex bank reportedly instructed banks to place a “Post No Debit” restriction on the accounts.

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Bassey Israel, a pharmacist, who was in charge of the #EndSARS medical team in Port Harcourt, reportedly said his account with Access Bank marked 003397XXXX has been frozen since October 15.

I am in charge of End SARS medical team in Port Harcourt and we had people donating for medical supplies, food, water, ambulance services and these donations were made directly into my account and of course these donations had End SARS descriptions so I think that was how they were able to flag my account,” he was quoted to have said.

I noticed that on October 15, I was trying to make a debit transaction on my account and noticed that there was a restriction.

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“So, I called the bank and I was told that there was indeed a restriction but I should go to any branch near me and when I did so, the branch manager sent a mail to the branch where I opened the account. The response to the mail was that there was a directive from the CBN to restrict the account.

“The lady was surprised and even asked me if I had any issue with the CBN and I responded that if I had any issue with the CBN, I wouldn’t be in the bank in the first place, I would be on the run. I asked what could be done and she gave me no answer. She had to  show me the mail on her computer which I read. It was directly from the CBN and it read, ‘Place this account on PND.”

On Sunday, Modupe Odele, an #EndSARS advocate, said, after the protest, she was stopped from travelling out of the country by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

It was learnt from her lawyer that she was detained and her passport seized.