It come as a very sad and shocking news on the 6th of February, 2021 when the Nigerian government through it's Apex bank "CBN" warned all DMBs and other financial institutions to henceforth stop transacting with accounts that carry out exchanges with Crypto Currencies, it further directed all DMB to identify and close of of such accounts.
Quoting an online source, bellanaija.com "The Central Bank of Nigeria on February 5, 2021, released a statement signed by the Director of Banking Supervision Bello Hassan and the Director of Payments System Management Department Musa I. Jomoh, prohibiting financial institutions in Nigeria from dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchange.
Meaning all trading of cryptocurrency in Nigeria has been banned, as all Deposit Money Banks, Non-Bank Financial Institutions and Other Financial Institutions have been directed to identify persons and/or entities transacting in or operating cryptocurrency exchange within their systems and ensure that such accounts are closed immediately. The statement added that “breaches of this directive will attract severe regulatory sanctions.”
The use of bitcoins and cryptocurrencies in Nigeria skyrocketed in 2020, especially during the #EndSARS protests when bank accounts of activists like the Feminist Coalition were blocked and other payment platforms for freelancers were banned."
This latest move have gone to show how uninformed the present government of Nigeria is, because as we know it today no one can ban cryptocurrencies, it also show how this government hate cryptocurrencies and advancement.
With this kind of action or actions, African countries will remain aback in the scheme of things, except something urgent is done, these stories will not change for very long time to come.