The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks and other financial institutions to freeze all accounts linked to six individuals and four Bureau de Change operators flagged for terrorism financing.
The order came in a circular dated June 24, 2026 (Ref: CMD/FCS/PUB/CIR/002/011).
The CBN said the move follows an update to the Nigeria Sanctions List, effective June 18, 2026, which it said all regulated institutions must act on immediately.
Banks have been told 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.”
The development follows sanctions announced by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against a Nigerian national, Mukhtar Adamu, and three BDC firms, over alleged ties to financing the terrorist group ISWAP.
Nigeria’s government followed up with its own list, naming six individuals and three entities. They are: Ibrahim Yakubu Ogirima, Adamu Chiroma, Ibrahim Abubakar, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Babangida Muhammed, and Adamu Hammajam, alongside Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau De Change Limited, Generation Currency BDC Limited, and Nine to Nine BDC Limited.
Reacting to the sanctions, the president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadebe, said the wrongdoing of a few shouldn’t taint the whole industry. He added that; “the overwhelming majority of licensed BDC operators comply with Nigerian laws and regulatory requirements.”
