By Toluwa Catherine
Some Nigerians on Twitter have accused the Feminist Coalition (FemCo) of withdrawing the sum of N23m ($51,000) worth of bitcoin from the #EndSARS donation account and transferring it to another account
FEMCO is one of the groups that provided support during last year’s #EndSARS protests against the now disbanded special anti-robbery squad (SARS).
The group had, during the protests, asked supporters to make donations via bitcoin, as government authorities had reportedly blocked its conventional bank account.
Announcement of a breakdown of how the remaining funds — about N87 million — would be disbursed was made by the coalition after putting a stop to donations as demonstrations ended across the country.
However, a Twitter user, @Rx_Deyholar, on Friday, March 12, 2021 alleged through his handle that the Feminist Coalition had “silently” moved $51,000 worth of bitcoin to a newly generated account with just one transaction history carried out on March 5.
“Feminist co withdrew $51,000 worth of Bitcoin from their donation wallet on the 5th of this month silently.” He tweeted.
FemCo was also accused of not being transparent with their expenses during and after the nationwide protest.
Another Twitter user, @von_Bismack, reacted to the allegation, saying “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.”
A user also tweeted: “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.”
Hundreds of mixed reactions trailed the allegation, with most handles demanding an explanation from the group.
The Coalition, in response to the allegation, released a statement through a series of tweets showing an account of how the funds received and how it was spent.
The statement outlaid that the bitcoin withdrawal was part of a sale for N57,590,000 with a third party between November 16 and December 1, 2020.
The group said the delay in confirming the transaction was because the “bitcoin network had been clogged for the last few months”.
A swarm of additional tweets, however followed, mostly asking for full accountability, audit of the account, amidst other reactions.
