By Daily Review Online
The Federal Government has directed banks, financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions to strictly enforce sanctions against individuals and entities linked to terrorism financing, including the immediate freezing of their assets.
The directive follows recent sanctions imposed by the United States government on a Nigerian alleged ISIS financier, Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, and three Bureau De Change (BDC) operators accused of facilitating the movement of funds for the terrorist group.
The sanctioned firms are Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited and Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited. The action was taken under the US Executive Order 13224 as part of a broader crackdown on ISIS financial networks operating across Europe, the Middle East and West Africa.
Reacting to the development, the Nigerian Sanctions Committee said the Federal Government remains committed to ensuring full compliance with sanctions obligations, including asset freezes, the filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports and the reporting of relevant matches to regulatory authorities.
“The Federal Government reiterates its directive to all financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions to comply fully with all sanctions obligations,” the committee stated.
The committee noted that the US action reinforces sanctions already imposed by Nigeria and demonstrates growing international cooperation aimed at disrupting terrorist financing networks.
Earlier, on June 18, 2026, Nigeria added six individuals and one entity to its sanctions list. Those listed 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, extensive intelligence gathering, financial investigations and inter-agency assessments established reasonable grounds to believe the affected persons and entities provided support, financing or other assistance to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and associated terrorist groups.
The committee commended the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Department of State Services, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for their roles in identifying and disrupting terrorist financing operations.
Reaffirming the government’s resolve, the committee declared that terrorists and their financiers would find no safe haven within Nigeria’s financial system and pledged continued collaboration with international partners to strengthen financial integrity and national security.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lieutenant General Emmanuel Undiandeye, said Nigeria’s military, working closely with allies including the United States, the United Kingdom and France, has significantly weakened terrorist organisations operating in the country.
Speaking during the Defence Intelligence Agency’s Second Quarter Operations Briefing for Foreign Defence Advisers and Attachés in Abuja, Undiandeye said Nigerian forces had eliminated several terrorist commanders, disrupted logistics networks and degraded the operational capabilities of groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP.
“Our forces have assaulted, decimated and dismantled their structures to the extent that their logistics chains, arms suppliers and support networks have largely been neutralised,” he said.
He added that the briefing was designed to provide foreign defence representatives with an accurate picture of Nigeria’s security environment and the progress being made through coordinated military and intelligence operations.