Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Federal Government has issued a sweeping directive to all financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses across Nigeria, ordering the immediate freezing of assets belonging to individuals and entities linked to terrorism financing, in a decisive move that signals a coordinated international effort to choke off the financial lifelines of extremist groups operating in West Africa. The directive, announced on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC) through the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), came against the backdrop of sanctions imposed by the United States government on a Nigerian financier of the Islamic State (ISIS) and three Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in Lagos and Kano. The Federal Government declared that terrorists and their financiers will find no safe haven within Nigeria's financial system, reaffirming its commitment to cutting off resources that sustain terrorist activities across the country and the wider Lake Chad region.
The US government, acting under Executive Order 13224, had earlier sanctioned the Lagos-based financier, identified as Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, 35, alongside three BDCs—Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, and Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited—for allegedly moving funds for ISIS as part of a sweeping action targeting the group's financial networks across Europe, the Middle East and West Africa. The US action brought the number of Nigerians already targeted and sanctioned by Washington over terrorism financing to 10 since 2022, when the US State Department initiated its most prominent sanctions on Nigerian nationals. Reacting to the development, the Nigerian Sanctions Committee welcomed the decision of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), noting that the three entities were among those included in an update to the Nigeria Sanctions List published on June 18, 2026.
Beyond the three BDCs named by the US government, the Federal Government had earlier on June 18, 2026, added six more individuals to the sanctions list. They include Ibrahim Yakubu Ogirima; Adamu Chiroma; Ibrahim Abubakar; Abdullahi Umar Usman; Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam; and Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau De Change Limited. According to the committee, the listing of these six individuals and three entities followed extensive intelligence gathering, financial investigations, and inter-agency assessments which established reasonable grounds to believe that the affected individuals and entities "facilitated, financed, supported or otherwise contributed to the activities of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and associated terrorist networks". The sanctions regime was established under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, to enforce UN-directed financial penalties targeting terrorism financing and the proliferation of weapons.
In a statement, the Nigerian Sanctions Committee reiterated the government's directive to all financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions to comply fully with all sanctions obligations, including asset-freezing requirements, the filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports, and the reporting of relevant matches to the appropriate authorities. The committee emphasised that the action taken by the US government effectively places Washington's weight behind sanctions already imposed by Nigeria, signalling a coordinated effort to choke off financial networks that sustain terrorist groups and other extremist actors. "Nigeria remains resolute in its commitment to ensuring that terrorists and their financiers find no safe haven within the country's financial system," the statement said.
The committee commended the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the National Security Adviser for their roles in the sanctions process, and lauded the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Department of State Services, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for supporting efforts to cut off the financial lifelines of terrorist organisations. Commending the agencies, the committee said they had acted to ensure that terrorist groups were denied access to resources that sustained their activities. The committee reaffirmed Nigeria's commitment to working with domestic and international partners to combat terrorism financing and strengthen the integrity of the country's financial system. "The government will continue to work closely with domestic stakeholders and international partners to safeguard national security, strengthen financial integrity and contribute to global efforts to combat terrorism and its financing," the statement added.
The directive comes amid heightened scrutiny of financial networks linked to terrorist organisations operating in Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region, where groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP have continued to carry out deadly attacks on civilian populations, security forces, and humanitarian workers. Terrorism financing in Nigeria operates through both formal and informal channels, with designated terrorist groups exploiting legal businesses, non-profit organisations, unregulated money transfer systems such as the Hawala network, Bureau De Change operators, and increasingly, virtual assets and cryptocurrency platforms. The coordinated action by Nigeria and the United States represents a significant escalation in the fight against terror financing, demonstrating a shared commitment to disrupting the financial networks that sustain extremist violence. For the individuals and entities now on the sanctions list, the message is clear: the international community is watching, and there will be no safe haven for those who finance terrorism.
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