Nigerian central bank freezes protestors’ accounts

Central bank says it is carrying out routine investigation, but protestors say it is targeting them

Central Bank of Nigeria
Central Bank of Nigeria
Wikimedia/Commons/Godwin Paya

Nigeria’s central bank has frozen the bank accounts of around 20 individuals and groups linked to recent anti-government protests.

A federal court in Abuja authorised the Central Bank of Nigeria on November 4 to order six commercial banks to freeze the accounts. Some account holders said their access had been blocked by the banks for five days before the CBN obtained the ruling, news agency Bloomberg reported.

The court ruling said the accounts could be restricted for 90 days. It added the

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