Federal Government Uncovers N83 Billion in Hunger Protest Funding

Nigeria’s government has reportedly uncovered ₦83 billion in funds and cryptocurrency used to finance the recent hunger protests in the country.

According to Punch, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu presented a report at the inaugural meeting of the Council of State on August 13, revealing that political actors in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina contributed about N4 billion. Additionally, $50 million in cryptocurrency was uncovered in connection with the protests, of which $38 million was blocked in four different wallets.

“In his presentation, the NSA said the government was able to trace $50 million to crypto wallets that were used as donations to the protests. They succeeded in blocking four of those wallets containing $38 million,” the newspaper quoted an anonymous source.

“They also found out that some political actors contributed N4 billion to fund the protests,” the source added.

In response to protesters in Northern states seen with Russian flags, an act that the Defence Chief of Staff referred to as a felony offense, reports claimed that a European national has been identified as the mastermind and would soon be declared wanted by the authorities.