EFCC to Arraign US-Blacklisted Lagos BDC Operator Over Alleged ISIS Financing

EFCC

EFCC to Arraign US-Blacklisted Lagos BDC Operator Over Alleged ISIS Financing

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to arraign a Lagos-based Bureau De Change operator, Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, over alleged terrorism financing linked to the Islamic State, sources within the anti-graft agency have disclosed. According to senior EFCC officials familiar with the investigation, the commission had already concluded significant aspects of its probe and was preparing criminal charges against the suspect when the United States government announced sanctions against him over alleged links to ISIS. “We investigated these individuals and the BDC companies for terrorism financing and were preparing charges against them when the U.S. indicted them,” a source familiar with the investigation told The PUNCH.

The development follows the designation of Muhammad and three Nigerian companies by the United States as alleged financial facilitators for ISIS operations. The sanctions formed part of a broader action targeting three individuals and six entities accused of facilitating the movement of funds for ISIS activities across several countries, including France, Syria, Türkiye and Nigeria. In a statement issued on Monday, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Thomas Pigott said the Nigerian national named in the sanctions is Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, also known as Mukhtar Muhammad, a Bureau De Change operator based in Lagos State. According to U.S. authorities, Muhammad and the affected companies acted as financial conduits for the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) by facilitating the movement of funds on behalf of the terrorist organisation. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control alleged that the firms were owned, controlled or directed by Muhammad and used to move funds for ISWAP. The sanctions freeze any assets or interests in property belonging to the designated individuals and entities within U.S. jurisdiction and generally prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with them.

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The Nigerian firms linked to Muhammad and named in the sanctions include Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, which is Lagos-based; Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, also Lagos-based; and Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited, which is Kano-based. Authorities in the United States accused the Lagos-based BDC operator of helping move funds linked to the Islamic State’s West African network through financial channels operating in Nigeria. According to OFAC, Mr Muhammad operated from Lagos and played a significant role in ISWAP’s financial network by transferring money through the three BDC firms, enabling the movement of funds that supported the group’s operations.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Sanctions Committee has welcomed the decision by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control to blacklist Muhammad, Nine to Nine Bureau De Change, and Generation BDC Limited over alleged links to terrorism financing. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the committee disclosed that the U.S. action followed Nigeria’s earlier designation of the individuals and entities under the Nigeria Sanctions List on June 18, 2026. According to the committee, the sanctions were based on extensive intelligence gathering, financial investigations and inter-agency assessments which established reasonable grounds to believe the affected individuals and entities facilitated, financed or otherwise supported the activities of ISWAP and affiliated terrorist networks. “These designations follow the inclusion of Adamu and his companies as part of a broader update to the Nigeria Sanctions List approved and published on June 18, 2026,” the committee stated.

The committee listed the sanctioned individuals as Ibrahim Yakubu Ogirima (NLISWi.19), Muktar Muhammad Adamu (NLISWi.20), Adamu Chiroma (NLISWi.21), Ibrahim Abubakar (NLISWi.22), Abdullahi Umar Usman (NLISWi.23), and Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam (NLISWi.24). The affected companies are Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau De Change Limited (NLISWe.25), Generation Currency BDC Limited (NLISWe.26), and Nine to Nine BDC Limited (NLISWe.27).

The Federal Government reiterated its directive to financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions to comply fully with sanctions obligations, including asset-freezing requirements, the filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports and the reporting of all relevant matches to the appropriate authorities. The sanctions committee also commended the efforts of major government institutions involved in the investigation, including the Federal Ministry of Justice, Office of the National Security Adviser, Central Bank of Nigeria, Department of State Services, EFCC and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit. Reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to combating terrorism financing, the committee said the government would continue working with domestic institutions and international partners to deny terrorist groups access to financial resources. “Nigeria remains resolute in ensuring terrorists and their financiers find no safe haven within the country’s financial system,” the committee said.

Although the EFCC has yet to issue an official statement on the matter, sources said the commission’s investigation focused on alleged terrorism financing activities and financial transactions suspected to be linked to terrorist operations. The sources, however, declined to disclose when formal charges would be filed.