Justice Nwite says police suppressed material facts when securing fresh Post-No-Debit orders against four defendants.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has lifted freezing orders placed on the bank accounts of four defendants linked to the investigation into a 2023 system glitch that allegedly enabled the fraudulent withdrawal of about ₦21 billion from a Flutterwave account domiciled with Wema Bank.
Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling, set aside the ex parte order obtained by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on June 2, 2026, after agreeing with the defendants that the police failed to disclose a previous court order that had already lifted restrictions on their accounts.
The judge held that a court order obtained on a materially incomplete factual foundation could not be allowed to stand. He said the police’s failure to disclose the earlier order amounted to material non-disclosure.
Justice Nwite consequently vacated the June 2 order and discharged all freezing orders, Post-No-Debit instructions, restrictions, liens and other encumbrances imposed on the accounts and properties of the four defendants.
The case stems from alleged fraudulent withdrawals that occurred between October 12 and 13, 2023, during a system glitch on the Flutterwave platform. The police subsequently arrested some suspected Point-of-Sale agents and commenced investigations and legal proceedings.
The police had maintained that the four defendants were among those whose accounts received significant sums allegedly connected to the incident.
However, their lawyers argued that an earlier order issued by a court of coordinate jurisdiction had already unfrozen their accounts and remained valid because it had not been appealed.
The defendants accused the police of abusing the judicial process and engaging in forum shopping by seeking substantially similar restrictions without informing the court of the earlier decision.