Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho has said the freezing of #EndSARS protesters’ bank accounts saved Nigeria as a nation.
Tsoho, speaking at a ceremony to mark the federal high court’s 2020/2021 legal year, said if the step was not taken, the Nigerian economy could have collapsed at that point in time.
Recall that a Federal High Court in Abuja had granted the order by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to freeze accounts belonging to End SARS promoters in Nigeria.
The Chief Judge added that freezing of the #EndSARS protesters’ bank accounts also prevented the dollar from exchanging above N500.
Tsoho said; “Three months before the protest, CBN kept bringing applications, almost in their hundreds, based on what they call deliberate resolve to ruin the economy through money laundering.
“But the names were mostly of corporate bodies. So if it was the #EndSars people who started that arrangement undercover, then it is unfortunate. So maybe in the course of issuing those orders, they were uncovered.
“I’m sorry, I may have breached security but I would not know because it is very irritating for people to fail to verify news and just come up with damaging allegations.
“From what I gathered, if that step was not taken, the Nigerian economy could have collapsed at that point in time.”
According to the Chief Judge, the discovery of those accounts linked to End SARS protesters made CBN seek order to freeze the bank accounts.
“The dollar would have already exchanged for far above N500. So it was that discovery that prompted the CBN to bring those applications and the orders granted temporarily saved the situation,” Tsoho added.
