FG clamps down on #EndSARS promoters, freezes accounts

There are reports that the Federal Government is going after notable persons in the #EndSARS protests and had placed some of them on a ‘no fly list., with directives to freeze some accounts

Nigeria Immigration Service on Monday prevented a promoter of the #EndSARS movement, Modupe Odele, from travelling.

Odele, had through her Twitter handle, @Mochievous, mobilised her 219,000 followers during the protests.

“I went to the airport, passed through immigration, and while I was putting my bags through the body and baggage scanner, the immigration officer who had previously cleared me, called me back. He told me he had orders from above to detain me.

Okay, at this point I’m like excuse me, my flight is in an hour. On what grounds are you detaining me?” He didn’t respond. Instead, he goes to his computer where he typed in my name, and something that looked like a ‘wanted poster’ popped up on the portal.

“He blocked my view so I couldn’t see most of it but I saw some of it. And it read something like – ‘This person is under investigation by XYZ Intelligence Agency. If seen, they should be apprehended on sight.’”

Odele said she was detained while her passport was seized by the officers and she was made to miss her flight.

The Spokesman for the NIS, Sunday James, said he did not have any information on the matter but promised to find out.

However, the Federal Ministry of Interior denied the allegation, saying it did not generate any ‘no fly list.”

Also, on Tuesday, some promoters of the protests said their accounts had been frozen for the past two weeks.

The CBN, according to multiple complaints received had instructed banks to place a ‘Post No Debit’ restriction on these accounts.

The banks, it was learnt, were able to implement the directive by tracking the ‘narration’ of transactions.

Bank transactions that included the narration #EndSARS or End SARS were immediately flagged while such accounts receiving funds were frozen.

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