Business

CBN links #EndSARS campaigners to terrorism

Published

6 years ago

November 11, 2020

The Central Bank of Nigeria got a Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze the accounts of 20 #EndSARS campaigners after saying money in their accounts could be linked to terrorist activities.

This is contained in a written address in support of a motion ex parte filed by the CBN.

The CBN last month secured an ex parte order to freeze the accounts.

In the case with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1384/2020, filed before Justice A. R. Mohammed, the CBN, however, made no mention of the fact that the 20 accounts were owned by persons involved in the #EndSARS protests, but told the court that the funds might have emanated from terrorist activities.

The written address read in part, “My lord, the nature of the transactions undertaken through the defendants’ accounts are of suspected terrorism financing in contravention of Section 13(1)(a)and(b) of the Terrorism (Prevention)(Amendment) Act, 2013 and Regulation 31(2)(a)and (3)(b) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regulations, 2013.”

In a supporting affidavit deposed to by one Aondowase Jacob on behalf of the CBN, it was stated that the Head of the Economic Intelligence Unit of the Governor’s Department, CBN, Joseph Omayuku, had conducted an investigation on the accounts of the defendants and other individuals and entities held with certain banks in Nigeria.

According to the affidavit, the investigation showed that the owners of the accounts may have been involved in terrorist activities.

It added, “There is a grave allegation that the defendants are involved in suspected terrorism financing via their bank accounts in contravention of the provisions of extant laws and regulations. The aforesaid transactions undertaken by the defendants, using their bank accounts, can cause significant economic and security harm to the public and the Federal Republic of Nigeria if left unchecked.

“The applicant (CBN governor) is thus desirous to have the court empower him to direct the freezing of the 20 accounts listed on the annexure to this application and all other bank accounts held by the defendants.

“A freezing order of this honourable court in respect of the defendants’ accounts would also enable the investigation of the activities of the defendants to a logical conclusion with a view to reporting same to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.”

The apex bank said unless the order was granted, it would not be able to ensure that the money remained intact, while investigations were ongoing.

The 20 accounts frozen by the CBN are domiciled in Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Fidelity Bank, United Bank for Africa and Zenith Bank.

The accounts were said to have been flagged after they received money with the narration #EndSARS.

One of the frozen accounts, marked 0056412470 and domiciled in Access Bank, belongs to Bolatito Olorunrinu Oduala, an #EndSARS campaigner, who was appointed into the Lagos State judicial panel set up by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Another frozen account marked 0033974485 and domiciled in Access Bank belongs to Bassey Israel, the medical team coordinator for the #EndSARS protests in Port Harcourt.

Similarly, an account marked 0054676984 domiciled in Access Bank belongs to Gatefield Nigeria Limited, which paid freelance journalists to cover the protests.

Justice Mohammed froze the accounts for 180 days subject to renewal, but said anyone who was not satisfied with the ruling was free to challenge it.

Freezing protesters’ accounts illegal – Yesufu

A leading member of the #EndSARS protesters, Aisha Yesufu, described the freezing of the #EndSARS protesters’ accounts as illegal, noting that the government “is behaving like a terrorist.”

She questioned the freezing of the accounts ahead of the court injunction ordering the banks to block the accounts.

Yesufu stated, “The question is, why did they freeze the accounts before obtaining a court injunction? Why the illegality? Our judiciary should know that it is an independent arm of government and there is separation of power.

“The government should be ashamed of itself. The United Arab Emirates just convicted some Nigerians, who were accused of terrorism, and we are hearing that the government would appeal on their behalf. That is where the problem is.”

The activist accused the Federal Government of pampering insurgents, while bearing down on peaceful and harmless protesters.

She added, “#EndSARS campaigners are protesters and they protested the way the Constitution allows, so all these are shenanigans. They had better focus on the terrorists.

“Bandits are laying down their arms and they are taking them to Government Houses, while Boko Haram members are being given preferential treatment, but Nigerians, who were protesting, were being killed by the government. The government is the one behaving like a terrorist right now.”

-The Punch

Auto

Toyota Celebrates Customers, Partners as Zenith Bank Clinches Top Honour

Published

2 hours ago

June 14, 2026

Trends Admin

L-R: Chairman of Toyota Nigeria Limited, Chief Michael Ade.Ojo; Head of Admin and Due Diligence, Zenith Bank, Mr. Callixtus Nwodo; and Head, Dealer Development and Special Duties at Toyota Nigeria Limited, Mr. Henry Ojuoko, during the presentation of Toyota Starlet Cross to Zenith as winner of TNL Evergreen Customer award in Lagos.

Toyota Celebrates Customers, Partners as Zenith Bank Clinches Top Honour

Toyota (Nigeria) Limited celebrated customer loyalty, strategic partnerships and industry excellence at its 2026 Awards and Customers’ Night in Lagos, with Zenith Bank, AGL Motors and leading automotive journalists emerging among the biggest winners.

The event, which coincided with Toyota Nigeria’s 30th anniversary celebrations, attracted customers, dealers, government officials, financial institutions, media practitioners and other stakeholders who have contributed to the company’s growth over the past three decades.

A major highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Evergreen Customer of the Year Award to Zenith Bank Plc in recognition of its status as Toyota Nigeria’s most consistent customer over the last five years.

The award came with a brand-new Toyota Starlet Cross, presented by the company’s Chairman and founder, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo.

Managing Director of Toyota Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kunle Ade-Ojo; Chairman of TNL, Chief Michael Ade.Ojo, and MD/CEO, AGL Motors Ltd, Alhaji AbdulAfeez Gabar Lado, at the presentation of the 2025 best customer award to AGL Motors at the Toyota Awards in Lagos.

AGL Motors received recognition as Customer of the Year after recording the highest volume of Toyota vehicle purchases in 2025. The Nigerian Army and Zenith Bank finished as first and second runners-up respectively in the category, with winners receiving office equipment worth several millions of naira.

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Toyota Nigeria also used the occasion to honour members of the media for their contributions to automotive journalism and public understanding of developments in the sector. Theodore Opara of Vanguard won the Journalist of the Year Award, while Mike Ochonma of Transport World and Rasheed Bisiriyu of Newstrends emerged first and second runners-up respectively.

In his address, Managing Director of Toyota Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ade-Ojo, described the annual gathering as a celebration of the enduring relationships that have shaped the company’s success since it commenced operations in 1996.

“Tonight is a moment of reflection, celebration and renewed commitment,” he said, noting that the event underscores Toyota’s customer-first philosophy and appreciation for the loyalty and trust of its stakeholders.

According to him, Toyota Nigeria has grown into one of the country’s most trusted automotive brands through its commitment to quality products, reliable after-sales support and continuous investment in customer satisfaction.

Ade-Ojo assured customers that despite prevailing economic challenges, the company would continue to introduce initiatives aimed at making vehicle ownership easier and more accessible for Nigerians.

He also expressed appreciation to dealers, customers, suppliers, consultants, financial institutions and employees for their support over the years, describing them as critical partners in Toyota Nigeria’s journey and future growth.

Toyota Celebrates Customers, Partners as Zenith Bank Clinches Top Honour

Business

Facebook, Instagram Global Outage: Over 130,000 Reports as Millions Logged Out

Published

2 days ago

June 12, 2026

Trends Admin

Facebook, Instagram Global Outage: Over 130,000 Reports as Millions Logged Out

NEW YORK/LONDON/SINGAPORE – Meta-owned social media platforms Facebook and Instagram experienced a widespread outage on Friday, June 12, 2026, leaving millions of users across the world unable to access their accounts as the disruption affected the entire ecosystem of Meta-owned services.

The disruption affected Facebook’s main website, mobile application and Messenger service, with many users reporting that they were automatically logged out of their accounts. The trouble appeared to begin on WhatsApp before spreading across Meta’s platforms. Users attempting to access Facebook received error messages including “an unexpected error occurred,” “sorry, something went wrong,” and “Query Error.”

Visitors to Facebook’s website were shown a notice stating that the company was working to resolve the issue. The disruption began at approximately 10:00 AM Eastern Time (2:00 PM GMT) , with users reporting being unable to load feeds or access core features on affected platforms.

According to outage-tracking platform Downdetector, the scale of the disruption was substantial. Facebook recorded over 130,000 user reports at its peak, while Instagram logged approximately 9,500 complaints. Reuters reported more than 62,000 complaints for Facebook and over 8,000 for Instagram during the peak of the disruption.

Reports of the outage quickly flooded social media platform X, formerly Twitter, as users turned to the site to confirm whether others were experiencing similar problems. While Facebook and Instagram were the most affected services, WhatsApp and Messenger also experienced significant disruptions.

The outage appeared to be global, with complaints emerging from multiple countries within a short period. The disruption affected users across the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Philippines, India, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates. In Singapore, reports about Facebook spiked on Downdetector at approximately 1:00 PM GMT.

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According to outage-tracking website StatusGator, users in the Philippines, India, Australia, Canada, and the United States also reported issues with Meta’s various applications. In Vietnam, users began reporting problems at approximately 8:40 PM local time, and the issue was reported resolved by approximately 9:20 PM local time.

Meta communications director Andy Stone confirmed the company was aware of the issue. “We’re aware people are currently having trouble accessing our services. We’re working on it,” Stone wrote in a post on X.

The company’s internal status page logged “high disruptions” across its business products, including Facebook Ads Manager, the Messenger Platform, the Messenger API for Instagram, and the WhatsApp Business Platform. Advertisers reported being unable to create or edit ads during the disruption, and Meta apologized “for any inconvenience.”

Notably, while Facebook and Messenger experienced issues, some users reported that Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp remained operational for certain regions or devices. However, many users still reported issues accessing these services depending on their location and device type.

The disruption was not limited to mobile applications. Users attempting to access Facebook and Instagram through web browsers also encountered error messages and were unable to load content normally. Some users reported that Facebook’s mobile app worked while the desktop site displayed errors, highlighting the uneven nature of the disruption.

Meta’s own status page, which is responsible for providing real-time information about platform responsiveness, failed to provide valuable data during the incident. Throughout the disruption period, the page displayed all services as having “no errors detected,” potentially leading users to believe the problem was on their end rather than the platform.

Downdetector’s own website experienced technical difficulties around the same time as the outage, though it was not immediately clear whether the two events were connected. Before becoming unavailable, the platform had logged tens of thousands of error reports within minutes.

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The disruption adds to a series of intermittent outages affecting Meta’s family of apps in recent years. In one major outage in March 2026, Facebook and Instagram users across several countries reported being unable to load feeds or access accounts for several hours. A separate disruption earlier that month also affected thousands of users globally.

Prior to 2026, Meta experienced major outages in March 2024, when the entire ecosystem including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads was down for over two hours, with Downdetector recording over 550,000 outage reports. Another similar incident occurred in December 2024, disrupting communication for millions of accounts worldwide.

Meta representatives have stated in both previous instances that the root cause stemmed from internal technical issues, emphasizing that these incidents were independent of each other and completely unrelated to external cyberattacks.

By midday Eastern Time (approximately two hours after the outage began), service was recovering unevenly, region by region. Meta marked some services, such as ad delivery, as resolved, while others remained “in the process of being restored.”

On the consumer side, Facebook was loading closer to normal and Downdetector reports were falling, though some users still saw empty Stories bars, stale feeds, or “Try Again” errors. In Vietnam, the issue was reported resolved by approximately 9:20 PM local time.

The scale of the disruption underscored the central role Meta’s platforms play in global communication and commerce. Even a few hours of downtime ripples through messaging services, business operations, and login authentication systems far beyond the social media feed.

Meta has not yet released an official statement regarding the specific cause of this latest outage as of the time of finalizing this report. The company has not provided an estimated timeline for when all services will be fully restored, though restoration efforts continue to proceed.

This is a developing story. Updates will follow as Meta provides official explanation of the cause and confirms full restoration of all services.

Facebook, Instagram Global Outage: Over 130,000 Reports as Millions Logged Out

Business

Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO Valuation Surge

Published

2 days ago

June 12, 2026

Trends Admin

Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO Valuation Surge

Elon Musk has officially entered uncharted financial territory after becoming the first individual in history to reach a $1 trillion net worth, following the blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX, which was priced at $135 per share.

The milestone marks a dramatic reshaping of global wealth rankings, driven primarily by the surge in valuation of SpaceX, the aerospace and space exploration company at the center of Musk’s financial empire.

The SpaceX IPO has been described as one of the most significant private-to-public transitions in modern financial history. With shares debuting at $135, investor demand pushed the company’s valuation to unprecedented levels, instantly elevating Musk’s paper wealth. Before the IPO, Musk’s net worth was estimated at approximately $813 billion, already positioning him far ahead of other global billionaires, including Google co-founder Larry Page, whose estimated wealth stood at about $288 billion. Following the listing, Musk’s total fortune is now estimated at just over $1.005 trillion, making him the world’s first confirmed trillionaire on paper.

According to the IPO structure, Musk holds approximately 4.8 billion shares in SpaceX, representing about 42% ownership, along with around 350 million stock options exercisable at a significantly lower strike price of $8.39 per share. At the IPO valuation, his SpaceX equity stake alone is worth roughly $648 billion, while stock options contribute an additional $44.3 billion. Combined with his holdings in Tesla and other investments, Musk’s total net worth crosses the symbolic $1 trillion threshold.

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Despite the historic milestone, financial analysts emphasize that Musk’s trillion-dollar status remains highly dependent on market conditions. Once trading begins on the Nasdaq Composite, fluctuations in SpaceX share price could significantly impact his net worth. A strong opening could push his fortune higher, while a decline could bring it back below the trillion-dollar mark. This volatility underscores a key characteristic of ultra-high-net-worth wealth: it is largely paper-based and market-sensitive, rather than liquid cash.

Musk’s achievement places his personal wealth in the same category as the gross domestic product of some of the world’s largest economies. Only a small number of countries globally—fewer than 20—have economies exceeding $1 trillion GDP, highlighting the scale of the milestone. The development has also intensified discussions around wealth inequality. Advocacy group Oxfam America has previously warned that extreme wealth concentration reflects widening economic disparities between the ultra-rich and the rest of the world.

While Musk remains the primary beneficiary of the IPO, the listing is also expected to generate substantial wealth for employees and early investors. Reports suggest that approximately 4,400 SpaceX employees could become millionaires depending on post-IPO market performance, marking one of the largest employee wealth creation events in the tech and aerospace sectors.

Musk’s rise to trillionaire status highlights the extraordinary growth of privately developed space technology and the increasing financial power of high-growth innovation companies. However, analysts caution that such milestones remain fluid, as billionaire rankings and net worth estimates can change rapidly based on market sentiment and stock performance.