The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to unfreeze the bank accounts of the 20 #EndSARS promoters.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed gave the ruling following the agreement reached by parties in the suit to amicably resolve the matter.
The judgement came three months after CBN obtained a court order to freeze the accounts of 20 #EndSARS promoters. The order was pursuant to a motion ex parte filed by the CBN before a Federal High Court.
Justice Mohammed, who commended counsel to the CBN, Michael Andoaka, SAN, and lawyer to the defendants, Femi Falana, SAN, ruled that “all processes filed in respect of the case are hereby deemed to have been withdrawn.”
The judge, then, set aside the November 4, 2020 order and ordered that all the accounts of the affected persons “be immediately defreezed.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CBN, in an exparte motion marked: FHC/ABJ/ CS/1384/2020 had prayed the court to unfreeze the bank accounts of Bolatito Rachael Oduala and 19 others who participated in the last year protest to end police brutality in the country.
The apex bank said it took the action to investigate the promoters of the protest on allegations bordering on terrorism financing, among others.
