The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed all banks, payment service banks, and other financial institutions to immediately freeze the accounts and assets of six individuals and four Bureau de Change operators designated for terrorism financing.
The directive, contained in a circular signed by CBN Compliance Department Director Olubunmi Ayodele-Oni on June 24, 2026, follows fresh sanctions designations by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee and the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control under Executive Order 13224, as amended.
The six individuals names are, Muktar Muhammad Adamu, Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma, and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim, while the four BDCs designated as owned or controlled by these individuals are 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 move comes days after U.S. authorities designated several Nigerians and Nigeria-based foreign exchange businesses for allegedly facilitating financial transactions for the Islamic State West Africa Province, a terrorist organisation operating in the Lake Chad region.
The CBN instructed banks to freeze, without prior notice, all funds, assets, and other economic resources belonging to or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the designated persons and entities, including businesses where the sanctioned individuals hold 50 percent or more ownership, whether individually or collectively.
Banks have also been ordered to ensure that no funds, financial services, or economic resources are made available to the sanctioned parties in any form.
On reporting obligations, financial institutions are required to file Suspicious Transaction Reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for any confirmed or attempted matches, and must submit a compliance report to the CBN within 48 hours, with nil returns mandatory even where no matches are found.
The apex bank also directed institutions to conduct retrospective reviews of past and attempted transactions linked to the designated individuals, and to intensify monitoring for terrorism financing indicators such as structured transactions, rapid fund movements, and transactions involving high-risk jurisdictions.
Reacting to the development, the President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadebe, cautioned against judging the entire BDC industry by the actions of a few operators, noting that the overwhelming majority of licensed BDC operators comply with Nigerian laws and regulatory requirements.
