The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered all commercial banks, payment service banks, and financial institutions across the country to immediately freeze the assets and financial resources of six individuals and four Bureau de Change (BDC) operators newly designated as terrorism financiers.
The directive, contained in a circular (CMD/FCS/PUB/CIR/002/011) dated June 24, 2026, follows recent updates to the sanctions lists by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NIGSAC) and the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under Executive Order 13224.
According to the apex bank, the Nigeria Sanctions List was updated on June 18, 2026, and the measures constitute “binding sanctions requiring immediate implementation.”
Blacklisted Individuals and Entities
The CBN identified the six individuals added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons List as:
Muktar Muhammad Adamu
Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam
Abdullahi Umar Usman
Ibrahim Abubakar
Adamu Chiroma
Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim
The central bank also blacklisted four Nigeria-based Money Service Businesses (MSBs) and BDCs corporate entities, stating they are owned or controlled by the designated individuals. The affected firms are:
Generation Currency Bureau de Change Limited
Manhattan Bureau de Change Limited
Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau de Change Limited
Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau de Change Limited
‘Freeze Without Delay’
The circular, signed by the CBN’s Compliance Department, mandates financial institutions to screen their existing customer databases, beneficial owners, and all incoming or outgoing transactions against the updated list.
Banks have been instructed to “identify and immediately freeze, without prior notice, all funds, assets, and other economic resources” held directly or indirectly by the blacklisted parties. This includes any entity where the designated individuals hold a 50 percent or greater stake.
Furthermore, the regulator placed a strict prohibition on dealings, warning that no financial services or resources should be made available to or for the benefit of the individuals and firms.
Mandatory 48-Hour Reporting
According to the circular, financial institutions are required to file Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) immediately with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
To prevent loopholes, banks have been directed to conduct a “lookback review” to trace past or attempted transactions involving the blacklisted parties, while ramping up monitoring for terrorism financing indicators such as rapid fund movements and informal channel usage.
The apex bank however, warned that it will conduct strict off-site reviews and on-site examinations to verify compliance, noting that false or misleading information will attract heavy penalties under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020.
