Twitter abuzz over withdrawal of ‘$51k worth of bitcoin’ from #EndSARS funds by Feminist Coalition

The Nigerian twittersphere is buzzing over the alleged withdrawal of $51,000 worth of bitcoin from the #EndSARS donation account by the Feminist Coalition.

The Feminist Coalition is one of the groups that provided support during protests against the now disbanded special anti-robbery squad (SARS).

During the #EndSARS protests in 2020, the coalition had asked supporters to make donations via bitcoin, after government authorities reportedly blocked its account.

As the demonstrations ended across the country, the group had put a stop to donations, and also announced a breakdown of how the remaining funds — about N87 million — would be disbursed.

However, on Friday, a Twitter user, @Rx_Deyholar, had taken to his handle to allege that the Coalition had “silently” moved $51,000 worth of bitcoin to a newly generated account with just one transaction history.

https://twitter.com/rx_deyholar/status/1370332821957525506?s=21

In reaction, another Twitter user, @von_Bismack, said he would personally sign a petition with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) if the coalition fails to give an account of the funds, while other handles joined in the call demanding an explanation.

I will personally join in signing a Petition to EFCC if the feminist co doesn't come forward and account for every Kobo in that Bitcoin wallet and give a satisfactory reason as to why they cleared the wallet and persons involved.

This is not an allegation,but a call to account.

— DEMAGOGUE PhD.💘senior advocat (@von_Bismack) March 12, 2021

This isn’t an attack on Feminist Co ,its basic common sense ,the beauty of #bitcoin and decentralization don’t care about spreadsheet Accountability,it’s PUBLIC,you can’t empty the donation wallet to a new wallet that has 0 (ZERO) past transactions and expect people not to talk

— Dehkunle Of Africa 🐐 (@Dehkunle) March 12, 2021

This excites me so much..

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Not because of what Feminist co did.. not at all..

But the beauty of a distributed, immutable public ledger – Blockchain

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Maybe one day it would help us hold our government and institutions accountable. https://t.co/W4fo8e4EES

— Bruno | Einstein of Marketing (@bruno_nwogu) March 12, 2021

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Whether the allegations are true or not, Femco needs to come out and be accountable. If you don’t want to be accountable then something is wrong.

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Now that we demand accountability from Feminist Co, Nigerians also need to demand accountability from Buhari who we voted into power

— Elder Seun (@iamseunalaofin) March 12, 2021

All I can say is Feminist Co were persecuted by their own government and now they're being persecuted by the people they helped to fight injustice.

That being said, that's a lot of money to just go missing and we await their response.

— JAG, Esq. (@jagganiyu) March 12, 2021

The Coalition has, however, released a statement showing an account of funds received and spent.

According to the statement, the bitcoin withdrawal was part of a sale for N57,590,000 with a third party between November 16 and December 1, 2020.

They attributed the delay in confirming the transaction to clog in the bitcoin network.

A statement from The Feminist Coalition. March 12th, 2021. #FemCo #FeministCo pic.twitter.com/KeffGwPIxG

— feministcoalition (@feminist_co) March 12, 2021