Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has temporarily blocked the account of Flutterwave, reason being that the platform was being used to receive donations for the ongoing ENDSARS Protest in the country.
Mr. Tunde Lemo, chairman of Flutterwave, however claimed he personally directed the suspension of the fintech firm’s payment platform.
Lemo, a former deputy governor of the CBN, said the decision was taken to prevent illicit flow of fund through the payment channel.
“I was the one that instructed them to shut down their system yesterday when the bad guys were moving money through them,” Lemo explained.
Lemo’s explanation is coming following reports that the account of the fintech firm and that of Feminist Coalition, a pro-#EndSARS women group, were frozen.
The organisers of the ENDSARS protest have been using the donations to fund medical supplies, food, drinks, legal aids, and others to sustain the protest.
As of Tuesday, a total of N16,706, 635.9 had been donated into the account, according to a post on Flutterwaves’ official Twitter handle.
This includes donation in foreign currencies.
A Twitter User, while reacting to the issue said;
“I hear @cenbank put restrictions on @theflutterwave for being the platform for #EndSARS donations.
The government thinks by shutting down flutterwave, they can shut down the protests. These people have no brains”. He concluded.