#EndBadGovernance: Nigerian govt places sponsors on watchlist, freezes accounts

The Nigerian government said it has identified Nigerians in the diaspora who are sponsoring the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest. The government said it has placed such individuals on a watch list and also frozen their Nigerian accounts.

The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nandap, said the sponsors are on a watch list and will be arrested when entering the country.

Ms Nandap made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during a combined news conference by the heads of security agencies and Service Chiefs convened by the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa at the Defence Headquarters.

She said, “We have identified some diaspora sponsors; they are on our watch list.

“Any attempt they make to come into the country, we will be notified, and they will be picked up and handed to the appropriate authority.”

The immigration boss said the service had, in response to the protest, deployed more officers to land borders and airports to ensure effective manning of those entry ports.

She said that NIS had also stepped up surveillance to prevent foreign intervention in the country.

The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said the police had uncovered some sponsors but declined to give further information on them.

Mr Egbetokun said that some bank accounts of such individuals had been blocked, adding that “many of them reside abroad.”

Also, the Director General of the State Security Services, Yusuf Bichi, represented by the service’s spokesman, Peter Afunanya, said that the service was monitoring those concerned.

He added that the service was also working with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to identify more people behind the protest’s funding.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defence chief led the service chiefs and heads of all the security, intelligence and paramilitary agencies to brief newsmen on the nationwide protest.

The briefing came a day after President Bola Tinubu met with the security chiefs on the security situation following the violence that broke out during the protests across the country.

None of the officials disclosed the number of diasporans affected by the sanctions. But the move is expected to be criticised by human rights groups who have faulted the government’s handling of the protests.

Amnesty International reported that at least 13 people have been killed since the protests started last Thursday, most by police officers, although the police dispute the claim.

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The protesters are demanding economic and political reforms including a reversal of some government policies that have contributed to Nigeria’s worst cost of living crisis in a generation.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that President Bola Tinubu addressed Nigerians about the protest on Sunday but did not make any concessions.

The protests turned violent in some states, mainly in northern Nigeria, leading state governments to declare curfews. In other states like Abuja, where it was peaceful, the police attacked protesters with tear gas and other ammunition, injuring many.