The Federal government has announced freezing more than $37 million worth of cryptocurrency held in wallets believed to be owned by some organizers of #EndBadGovernance protests,
Premiumtimes reports that this action followed an order granted by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 9.
The judge issued the order based on an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In the ex parte application filed on August 8, Judge Emeka Nwite, gave the order in a ruling delivered on 9 July, the EFCC’s lawyer, O.S Ujam described the assets as proceeds of money laundering and terrorism financing.
The hearing of the case proceeded as a discussion between Judge Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja and EFCC’s lawyer, O.S Ujam, in the absence of any opposition. This format allowed the judge and the lawyer to review and deliberate on the application without any counterarguments being presented, given that no other parties were present to contest the case.
An affidavit supporting the application to freeze the cryptocurrency wallets stated that the assets were “owned by individuals currently being investigated for offenses of money laundering and terrorism financing.” This affidavit was sworn by EFCC official Jimada Yusuf.
During the hearing on July 9, EFCC’s lawyer, Mr. Ujam, requested the judge to freeze the wallets “pending the conclusion of the investigation and prosecution.”
Given that it was an ex parte hearing, where the opposing parties were not present, there was no objection to the application. The judge, Mr. Nwite, granted the request, stating, “The applicant’s application dated and filed on the 8th day of August 2024 is granted as prayed.”
This hearing is followed by a court order issued by Judge Nwite stating “that an order of this honorable court is hereby made freezing the wallet addresses/accounts stated in the schedule below, which wallets are owned by individuals currently being investigated for offenses of money laundering and terrorism financing, pending the conclusion of the investigation,”
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The largest of the frozen assets is a cryptocurrency wallet containing USDT 37 million, which is equivalent to approximately $37 million in USD. Three other wallets with smaller amounts were also frozen each having USDT 967, USDT 90, USDT 443,512.37. While the identities of the wallet owners were not disclosed by the EFCC, government sources suggest that they are linked to individuals who organized the protests that took place across Nigeria from August 1 to 10, 2024.
The anti-government protests against rising costs of living, economic hardship faced by millions of Nigerians, and general governance issues in Nigeria were held across many parts of the country from 1 to 10 August. Meanwhile, security forces have launched a crackdown on persons linked to the protests, appearing not to make any distinction between genuine protesters and persons who allegedly perpetrated crimes under the guise of the protests.
In addition to the $37 million in cryptocurrency, the government reportedly traced and blocked a total of $50 million in donations and other funds related to the protests, including contributions from various political actors within Nigeria. This action highlights the government’s ongoing crackdown on those associated with the anti-government protests.
