Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has declared that the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria to freeze the accounts of promoters of the #EndSARS protests is “gross infringement” to the fundamental right to a fair hearing.

The human rights lawyer who made the comments in a statement issued on Wednesday also used the medium to warn the CBN against freezing the accounts of activists.

He said that CBN approached the Federal High Court for an ex parte order to freeze the bank accounts of #EndSARS protesters on the 4th of November 2020.

Falana added, “The CBN asked for 180 days to investigate the #EndSARS protesters for the offences of money laundering and terrorism. Convinced that the CBN was telling the truth, the court ordered that the bank accounts be frozen for 90 days.

“Since the #EndSARS protesters did not commit any offence whatsoever, the CBN did not investigate them until the ex parte order expired on February 4, 2021. It was on the basis of the expiration of the ex parte order that the case of the CBN was struck out by the Federal High Court.”

He also recalled how the court gave favourable judgment to activists during the “dark days of military” and the CBN at that time never filed any ex parte motion to freeze anybody’s account.

“It is pertinent to recall that during the dark days of the military dictatorship in Nigeria, those of us in the front line of the battle for the restoration of democratic rule in Nigeria were routinely arrested and detained under the obnoxious State Security (Detention of Persons Decreed) No 2 of 1984.

In desperation, the military dictators charged us with sundry criminal offences including treasonable felony for having the temerity to challenge their corrupt practices and human rights abuse. But the courts ensured that we were admitted to bail in liberal terms.”

Falana added that “Our passports were impounded at the airports and confiscated by the National Security Organisation (now Department of State Services, DSS) to prevent us from travelling abroad to expose the atrocities of the dictators. But the passports were released to us on the orders of our courts.

It is on record that the Central Bank of Nigeria, which was manned by professional bankers, never filed any ex parte application to freeze our accounts.

“Let the CBN stop freezing the bank accounts of activists because it constitutes a gross infringement of the fundamental right to fair hearing and property,” Falana warned.