…Says political collaborators arrested, foreigner to be declared wanted
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The National Security Adviser, NSA, MallamNuhu Ribadu, has disclosed that the Federal Government had blocked N83billion meant to sponsor the recent nationwide protests against hardship and bad governance.
Ribadu who disclosed this during his presentation at the inaugural meeting of the National Council of States in Aso Rock, said that the funds were in cryptocurrency.
According to the NSA, the blocked funds include $50m of cryptocurrency — $38m of which were blocked in four cryptocurrency wallets — and N4bn contributed by various political actors in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Katsina.
The NSA told the Council that an European behind the distribution of foreign flags during the protest would soon be declared wanted by the police.
Recall that some of the protesters in Kano and Kaduna waved Russian flags during the protests.
A source at the Council of States meeting quoted the NSA as revealing that some local conspirators traced to Abuja, Kaduna and Kano had been quizzed.
“In his presentation, the NSA said the government was able to trace $50m to crypto wallets that were made as donations to the protests. They succeeded in blocking four of those wallets containing $38m.
“They also found out that some political actors contributed N4bn to fund the protests.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, convened the Council of State meeting to discuss, among other matters, the recent #EndBadGovernance protests, national security, the economy and food security.
It was the first to hold since Tinubu assumed power in May 2023.
