A Nigerian Federal High court has ordered the country’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria to unfreeze the accounts of 20 #ENDSARS protesters.
Ahmed Mohammed, the presiding judge ordered that the bank accounts be unfrozen as he set aside a previous judgement which had ordered the freezing of the accounts. The order was premised on an agreement between the legal teams of the CBN and the defendants to put the case to a halt and settle amicably.
“All processes filed seemed to have been withdrawn in the spirit of reconciliation. The suit is hereby struck out,” the judge said.
“The order of November 4, 2020, freezing the accounts of the respondents is hereby set aside.
“An order is made de-freezing the accounts of the respondents immediately.”
The CBN had secured a previous order to freeze the accounts of some individuals who played active roles during the protest.
The time for the freezing of the accounts had since elapsed on Tuesday, amid consistent criticisms from the populace.
A good number of the frozen accounts are in Access Bank with Nigerians calling the bank out for colluding with authorities in meting out “injustice” against the protesters.
More than two weeks of protests in October 2020 saw Nigerian youths troop out to the streets to express their dissatisfaction against Police brutality.
The 20th of October, which has remained a watershed moment in the history of the country saw the alleged killing of tens of innocent youths by Nigeria’s security officers.