Access Bank Plc has been claimed of illicitly denied access to an account used for the promotion of the media coverage of the #EndSARS protests fights and mission against police police brutality in the nation, Bloomberg investigated Wednesday.
A public affairs firm, Gatefield Nigeria Limited, recently filed a suit against the bank for “unilaterally restricting” its account and sought for an award of N100 million in damages, court documents showed.
Gatefield claimed the record being referred to was utilized to accumulate assets to back independent journalists detailing the fights, which traversed around three weeks.
“As more people contributed to our efforts, we noticed that we could no longer conduct transactions on the dedicated account we used for this particular activity,” said Adewunmi Emoruwa, Gatefield’s lead strategist.
The arbitration will decide the legitimacy and lawfulness of obstructing the organization’s record without plan of action to a court request.
Allegations have likewise been made by people and associations over the online media of their bank accounts being confined throughout the protests for apparently related reasons.
“A successful challenge at the court could make the difference for others who were likewise targeted,” Emoruwa said.
Access Bank reportedly informed Gatefield it had an order from the central bank to restrict the account, executed on 15th October.
Over 70 people, comprising no fewer than 22 policeman lost their lives as the earlier peaceful demonstrations against high-handedness of the police’s special anti-robbery unit escalated into violence and looting nationwide.
Amnesty International said security forces murdered a minimum of 10 people as they fired into a protesting crowd in Lagos on 20th October. But the Nigerian army has denied the accusation.
New-York based Human Rights Watch has “documented several cases of organizations and individuals whose bank accounts were frozen after receiving or disbursing funds to support the #EndSARS protests,” said Anietie Ewang, its Nigerian researcher.
