Terrorism Financing: CBN orders Nigerian banks to freeze assets of six persons, four BDCs

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has directed banks, payment service banks, and other financial institutions to immediately freeze all accounts, assets, and transactions linked to six individuals and four Bureau de Change, BDC operators designated for terrorism financing.

The directive was contained in a circular dated June 24, 2026 (Ref:CMD/FCS/PUB/CIR/002/011).

According to the apex bank, the latest update to the Nigeria Sanctions List, effective June 18, 2026, is binding on all regulated institutions and requires immediate implementation.

The CBN directed financial institutions to “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.”

This comes after the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC, announced the sanctions on a Nigerian, Mukhtar Adamu, and three bureau de change companies over their alleged involvement in financing the terrorist group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

In a followup, the Nigerian government released the names of six persons and three entities sanctioned for terrorism financing. 

The Federal Government list indicated 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. 

Reacting to the development, the president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadebe, said the indictment should not rob all BDC operators in Nigeria. 

“The overwhelming majority of licensed BDC operators comply with Nigerian laws and regulatory requirements,” he said.