Nigeria Probes Protesters Under Terror-Financing Law

  • Regulator gets court permission to block 20 bank accounts
  • Account owners were active in protests against police
Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images
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Nigeria is investigating prominent participants in recent protests against police brutality for possible violations of a law against financing terrorism.

A filing by the Central Bank of Nigeria in a federal court in Abuja asking to freeze 20 bank accounts for 180 days was backed by allegations the account owners may have broken the counter-terrorism legislation, according to court documents obtained Wednesday. The court granted the regulator permission to block the accounts for three months on Nov. 4.