SEC orders freeze on assets of 6 individuals, 3 BDC firms over terrorism financing
By Aboki Forex —
Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission has directed all capital market operators to immediately freeze funds and assets connected to six individuals and three companies named by the country's Sanctions Committee as terrorism financiers.
The directive, published in a circular on August 12, requires Capital Market Regulated Entities to act without prior notice and to report any frozen assets to the Sanctions Committee afterwards.
Names on the sanctions list
The six individuals are Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma, Muktar Muhammad Adamu and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim.
The three entities are Nine to Nine BDC Ltd, Generation Currency BDC Ltd and Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau de Change.
The Sanctions Committee placed the individuals on its list in June under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act of 2022. The charges relate to alleged terrorism financing, material support for terrorist groups and financial transactions connected to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Specific allegations
Hammajam was designated on June 18 for alleged financing and direct support of ISWAP, while Usman was listed for repeatedly sending funds to the group. Abubakar faces allegations of both financing and membership of ISWAP. Chiroma is accused of using bureau de change operations and related businesses to move money on behalf of the group.
Muktar Adamu, designated on June 15, is alleged to have provided financial support and helped move funds for the ISWAP Okene cell, while Ibrahim is accused of supplying financial and material support to the group's Kogi cell. The three bureau de change companies were listed for allegedly channelling money through the same ISWAP Okene financing network.
Operators must report and monitor
Beyond freezing assets, the SEC ordered operators to file suspicious transaction reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit. Operators must flag any name matches in financial transactions as suspicious, regardless of whether those transactions took place before or after the sanctions list reached them.
Continuous monitoring of any dealings connected to the named individuals and companies is also compulsory, and operators are prohibited from conducting business with any of them.
The SEC warned that non-compliance would be treated as a breach of the Investments and Securities Act 2025 and the commission's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations. Penalties include fines, suspension and outright licence revocation.
This latest directive follows an earlier round of sanctions in which the SEC subjected 10 individuals and three entities to similar asset-freezing measures as part of Nigeria's broader push to shut terrorism financing out of the formal financial system.
For Nigeria's foreign exchange market, the move signals tighter regulatory oversight of bureau de change operators. Businesses and individuals who transact through BDCs may face closer scrutiny on large cash movements as regulators work to keep the formal financial system clean.