By Anthony Otaru, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered an immediate nationwide freeze on the bank accounts, assets and financial resources of six suspected terrorism financiers and four Bureau De Change (BDC) operators, directing all financial institutions to enforce the sanctions without prior notice to the affected persons.
The sweeping directive is part of a coordinated crackdown on terrorism financing. It follows fresh updates to the Nigeria Sanctions List as well as sanctions imposed by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against individuals and companies allegedly linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
In a circular dated June 24, 2026, with reference number CMD/FCS/PUB/CIR/002/011, the apex bank instructed banks, discount houses, payment service providers, BDCs and all other regulated financial institutions to immediately identify and freeze every account, asset and economic resource owned or controlled by the designated individuals and companies.
The CBN said the sanctions extend beyond personal accounts to include companies and entities in which any of the listed individuals hold 50 per cent or more ownership or controlling interest, effectively cutting off all financial channels available to the suspects.
“The designated persons’ funds, assets and other economic resources are to be identified and frozen immediately without prior notice,” the circular stated.
The six individuals named in the sanctions list are Muktar Muhammad Adamu, Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim.
Also affected are four Bureau De Change operators—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.
The latest action follows recent sanctions by the US Treasury, which accused Lagos-based BDC operator Mukhtar Muhammad, also known as Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, of facilitating financial transactions on behalf of ISWAP.
According to OFAC, the suspect allegedly operated a financial network used to move funds for the terrorist organisation through several businesses now placed under sanctions.
Beyond freezing the assets, the CBN directed all financial institutions to ensure that no money, financial services or economic resources are made available, directly or indirectly, to the designated individuals, companies or any entity acting on their behalf.
The regulator warned that strict compliance is mandatory under Nigeria’s Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, and Counter-Proliferation Financing framework, which requires financial institutions to enforce sanctions issued by competent national and international authorities promptly.
The latest directive represents one of the strongest financial measures deployed by Nigerian authorities against alleged terrorism financiers in recent times, as security agencies intensify efforts to dismantle the financial networks sustaining insurgency, disrupt illicit financial flows and deny terrorist groups access to funding.
Banks and other regulated institutions are expected to screen their customer databases immediately, identify all linked accounts and ensure the affected assets remain inaccessible until further regulatory directives or judicial orders are issued.
