Pastor Bakare Condemns Crackdown On #EndSARS Protesters, Asks FG To Unfreeze Accounts

Pastor Bakare

The serving overseer, The Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC),Pastor Tunde Bakare has condemned clampdown on #EndSARS protesters , saying their accounts should be unfrozen .

Pastor Bakare while speaking in his church at an event observed to mark his 66th birthday and his wife’s 60th birthday spoke on the topic “The youth of the nation are the trustees for prosperity”, he said that such action may ignite the youths to start  another protest.

 “I have observed with keen interest the policy actions and positions taken by national and sub-national governments to address the broader issues of youth development in Nigeria, from the prompt disbandment of SARS, to the N75B Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (N-YIF) launched by the federal government, as well as the appointment of young Nigerians on panels of inquiry set up by various state governments. I commend these actions by the federal and state governments. They have, to an extent, been forced to self-reflect and align with the times.

“In light of the foregoing, some of the actions recently taken by the government on the heels of the EndSARS protests may need to be reversed sooner rather than later in our collective best interest so that they do not trigger further protests. “Among such policy, actions is the freezing of the accounts of young Nigerians who reportedly sponsored the protests,” he said.

Bakare adds that although he accepts that under the country’s extant laws, banks may freeze an account upon an ex parte order granted to a law enforcement agency by a court of competent jurisdiction for the purpose of the investigation, but this Law should not be used to intimidate Nigerian youth simply because they engaged in and promoted protests against the inactions of government.

He said, “targeting and arresting citizens on trumped-up charges, deploying court probes as a tool of intimidation, and generally eroding our fragile peace, are deeply worrisome signs of regression.”