Pascal Oparada
Feminist Coalition, an all-female group and major financiers of the #EndSARS protests last year, has been accused of embezzling over N157 million donated mainly via Bitcoin.
In a Twitter thread, one Salako with the handle, @UnkleAyo, detailed how donations made to the group got diverted to other crypto wallets the moment the donations were made.
Salako explained that over 0.57BTC remain unaccounted for by the group.
One BTC sold for $58,000 during the time the protests were held across the country last year.
“As on March 6th when the txn was the first broadcast on the blockchain, BTC was 58,929 USD and naira against the dollar was 507NGN.
“This translates that the total worth of the 7.21 BTC was 215,413,912NGN
If you’re accounting for 57,590,000 NGN.
Where is 157,823,190NGN?
WHERE IS 157M NAIRA?”
According to him, the group lied about the amount of donations it got from across the globe from people, including Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, who openly campaigned for donations to the group.
The group said on its Twitter handle last year that it reported about N148 million and gave a painstaking breakdown of how the funds were disbursed.
As the #EndSARS came to an abrupt end following widespread looting and vandalism instigated by armed thugs and suspected government agents, the group posted its total donation, expenditure and cash balance.
The announcement showed Feminist Coalition received N147,855,788.28 in total donation from all currencies, including the naira, USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, GHS, KES and bitcoins — out of which N60,403,235 was disbursed.
The group said the remaining balance of N87,452,553.28 would go towards #EndSARS response for medical, N20,114,087; legal aid, N15,741,459; victims support, N40,228,174, memorial services, N5,247,153; and mental health therapy, N6,121,678.
The Feminist Coalition is a group of young Nigerian feminists who work to promote equality for women in Nigerian society. It was co-founded in July 2020 by Damilola Odufuwa and Odunayo Eweniyi.
The allegation comes as Nigerians prepare to mark the one year anniversary of the protests that criplled the country for two weeks in October last year.
The National Economic Council, chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, cautioned against marking the anniversary. The NEC said doing so could lead to another violent protest and destruction of lives and property.