Former National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muiz Banire has stated that the court order on the freezing of #EndSARS Protesters’ bank accounts is flawed.

 

The lawyer who said this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, November 11, wondered why a judge will grant an order for freezing of accounts before the complainant goes back for investigation and inquiry.

 

Banire said;

“In my very strong view, the order is flawed. The order granted by the judge to enable the Central Bank of Nigeria to carry out inquiry and investigation, how will you freeze somebody’s account and then go back to investigation and inquiry?

“I am sure it is a case of putting the cart before the horse. Beyond that itself, the law does not even say that. What the law says is that even where you do so, you must investigate the matter through the Nigerian Police or any of the security agencies.”

 

When asked what the Federal Government should have done rather than freezing the accounts of the protesters, the legal practitioner called for trust-building.

 

He added;

“My expectation is that the Federal Government as promised by the President in his speech should have just gone ahead, engage them in respect of the five demands of the youths.

“Beyond that also, the government should try to build confidence in these youths. The truth of the matter is that Nigerians generally tend not to trust the government in anything.

“In a situation like this when the youths come out to say ‘look we do not trust you,’ the least that we can do post the protest should have been to engage them to put this trust.”