From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has ordered all the financial institutions in Nigeria to immediately freeze all assets and transactions linked to six individuals and four Bureau De Change (BDC) operators linked to terrorism financing.
This aggressive and directive crackdown, was aimed at cutting off the illicit cash flows sustaining extremist cells across the country, which was conveyed in a circular dated June 24, 2026 (Ref: CMD/FCS/PUB/CIR/002/011).
This circular indicated that the latest update on the Nigeria Sanctions List became effective June 18, 2026 and is binding on all regulated institutions.
The circular also explained that the order requires immediate implementation. The apex bank informed regulated entities of fresh sanctions issued by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NIGSAC) and the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under Executive Order 13224, as amended.
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The circular further stated that the six individuals added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons List are: Muktar Muhammad Adamu, Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma, and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim.
Similarly, CBN listed the four Nigeria-based money service businesses and De Bureau De Change (BDCs), owned or controlled by the listed individuals as Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited. Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited, Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, and Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau De Change Limited.
According to the apex bank, financial institutions must “identify and immediately freeze, without prior notice, all funds, assets, and other economic resources belonging to, owned, held, or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the designated persons and entities.”
Stakeholders in the nation’s financial sector noted that this latest directive strikes directly at terrorism financing and money laundering after the United States government slapped crushing sanctions on Lagos BDC tycoon, Mukhtar Muhammad and a trio of firms caught in his alleged financial web.
Only recently, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), blacklisted Muhammad “Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad”, for allegedly serving as a key financial pipeline and money mover for the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
A statement it released earlier in the week, OFAC, besides accusing Muhammad of facilitating financial transactions and money transfers on behalf of ISWAP, the West African affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist group, also sanctioned Nine To Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, and Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited, alleging that the firms were used to channel funds for the terrorist organisation.
It further stated that the directive extends to companies or entities that are 50 percent or more owned, individually or collectively, by the sanctioned persons.
With the current development, financial institutions are now legally banned from processing funds, services, or economic resources for sanctioned individuals and entities.
Banks must also completely sever financial ties with blacklisted individuals or entities, ensuring that zero funds, and economic resources do not get to them through direct or indirect means.
