The Federal Government has thrown its weight behind new U.S. sanctions targeting three Nigerian bureau de change firms and several individuals accused of financing terrorism.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Mukhtar Muhammad Adamu and three BDCs for allegedly moving money on behalf of ISIS. Officials say Adamu used his businesses in Lagos and Kano to channel funds to the 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 crackdown is part of a wider U.S. operation targeting networks in Europe, the Middle East, and West Africa suspected of helping ISIS move funds across borders.
The Nigeria Sanctions Committee, NSC, welcomed the move on Wednesday. It noted the U.S. action came days after Adamu and his companies were added to Nigeria’s own sanctions list on June 18, 2026.
“The designation was based on extensive intelligence gathering, financial investigations, and inter-agency assessments,” the committee said. It added that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the individuals and firms “facilitated, financed, supported or otherwise contributed” to activities of the Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP.
The federal government has now directed banks and other financial institutions to comply fully with the sanctions. That includes freezing assets, filing suspicious transaction reports, and alerting authorities.
The NSC also praised the Federal Ministry of Justice, Office of the National Security Adviser, CBN, DSS, EFCC, and NFIU for helping disrupt terrorist financing networks.
“Nigeria remains committed to ensuring that terrorists and their financiers have no safe haven within the country’s financial system,” the committee said. It vowed to keep working with local and international partners to strengthen financial integrity.
Alongside Adamu, eight others were recently added to the Nigeria sanctions list, including Ibrahim Yakubu Ogirima, Adamu Chiroma, Ibrahim Abubakar, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau De Change Limited, Generation Currency BDC Limited, and Nine to Nine BDC Limited.
