Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, ordered the temporary freezing of 21 bank accounts domiciled in some commercial banks in the country.
He also ordered the arrest of the account holders by the police.
The banks are – Access Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Ltd, Wema Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, Guarantee Trust Bank Ltd, the United Bank of Africa Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, First Monument Bank Plc, Heritage Bank Plc, TAJ Bank Plc and Keystone Bank Plc.
The judge gave the order after counsel for the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Mohammed, moved a motion ex-parte to the effect.
Justice Nwite also granted the order directing the banks to issue details of the account package(s) and to place a Post-No-Debit (PND) on the accounts, disable the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) while allowing inflow into the said accounts pending the conclusion of the investigation.
He said: “I have listened to the submission of the learner counsel for the applicant and gone through the affidavit evidence.”
“I am of the view that the motion ex-parte is meritorious.”
“The application is hereby granted except that the period of the investigation can only last for 90 days.”
He adjourned the matter till April 3 for mention.
