The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks, payment service banks and other financial institutions to freeze without delay the accounts, funds and assets of six individuals and four Bureau de Change operators recently placed under terrorism financing sanctions.

The instruction, issued in a circular, follows designations by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee and the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control under Executive Order 13224. It came days after US authorities targeted several Nigerians and Nigeria-based currency businesses accused of moving funds for the Islamic State West Africa Province in the Lake Chad region.

The circular, signed for the Director of the Compliance Department by Olubunmi Ayodele-Oni, named the designated individuals as Muktar Muhammad Adamu, Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim, and listed four firms said to be owned or controlled by them: Generation Currency BDC, Manhattan BDC, Nine to Nine Exchange BDC and Abbal Bako & Sons BDC.

Banks were ordered to identify and immediately freeze, without prior notice, all funds and economic resources held or controlled by the designated parties, including entities owned 50 per cent or more by them, and to ensure no funds or services reached them. Suspicious Transaction Reports were to be filed at once with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

The apex bank required institutions to report back within 48 hours on whether any matches were found, with nil returns mandatory, and to step up monitoring for terrorism financing indicators such as rapid fund movement and the use of informal channels. It warned that false submissions would breach banking law and attract sanctions, and said it would verify compliance through reviews and examinations.