Following the bloody attack on the Nigerian youth protest movement by the military, authorities are keeping the pressure on some identified individuals within the #EndSars movement. Twenty of them’s bank accounts were frozen, following a decision by the Nigerian central bank.
The #EndSars movement has always claimed to be leaderless, but the Nigerian authorities seem to have identified some of its alleged “promoters”. They are under increasing pressure, almost three weeks after the army intervened the peaceful movement of Nigerian youths in violence.
In Lagos, the judicial commission responsible for investigating these incidents could not sit on Saturday, in the absence of the two youth representatives.
Majekodunmi Temitope and Rinu Oduala have decided to boycott this hearing after the freezing of the latter bank account. A decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria, validated by a court, targeting some 20 young people who have been mobilized in the #EndSars movement in recent weeks.
One of the lawyers for victims of police violence considered these sanctions to be “a declaration of war on the part of the authorities”, which could undermine the work of the Commission of Inquiry and further undermine the efforts.
This weekend, the Commission was to hear a representative of the Nigerian army, who came to explain the role of the army in the violence of recent weeks. He did not speak because the meeting was adjourned.
Violence in recent weeks has left at least 50 dead across Nigeria. An army intervention against young people on October 20 left at least 12 dead in Lagos, according to Amnesty International.
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