Nigeria: Nigeria Backs U.S. Sanctions On Alleged ISWAP Financiers

Lead

The United States has sanctioned Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, a 35-year-old Lagos-based financial facilitator, and three bureaux de change linked to him for allegedly moving funds for ISIS. The action, taken under Executive Order 13224, is part of a broader U.S. push targeting ISIS financial networks across Europe, the Middle East, and West Africa.

Nigeria has welcomed the U.S. move, with the Nigeria Sanctions Committee saying it received the inclusion of Adamu and two of the companies on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list "with satisfaction." The federal government has also directed financial institutions to freeze the assets of those designated and to comply fully with sanctions obligations.

Coverage Comparison

Reporting from AllAfrica presents the story from two complementary angles. One account focuses on the U.S. action, detailing the sanctions against Muhammad and the three bureaux de change, and quoting a U.S. State Department spokesperson on the effort to cut off ISIS financing. Another account centers on Nigeria's response, emphasizing that the U.S. action came days after Nigeria added Adamu and two of the companies to its own sanctions list, and highlighting the work of Nigerian agencies in the designation process. A third report frames the story around Nigeria's directive to financial institutions to enforce asset freezes, repeating the U.S. sanctions details and adding the names of the six individuals and three companies Nigeria sanctioned.

All three reports rely on official statements from the Nigeria Sanctions Committee and the U.S. Department of State, and all describe the sanctioned individuals and entities in similar terms.

Key Claims

The U.S. sanctions target Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, also known as Adamu Mukhtar and Muhammad Mukhtar, whose address is listed in Agege, Lagos State. He is described as a facilitator for ISIS-West Africa, using his bureaux de change in Lagos and Kano to move funds for the group. The three bureaux de change named by the U.S. are Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited and Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, both based in Lagos, and Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited, based in Kano.

The U.S. action is part of a network operating in France, Turkiye, Syria, and Nigeria that Washington says helps fund ISIS attacks, support its affiliates, and threaten civilians, including religious minorities. A France-based facilitator provided explosives information to ISIS supporters, and a Syria-based operator used cryptocurrency to transfer funds for ISIS associates, according to the U.S. statement. State Department spokesperson Thomas "Tommy" Pigott said the actions reflect "unrelenting pressure on ISIS, which continues to decentralize its operations and rely on financial intermediaries to connect its global network."

Nigeria had earlier sanctioned Adamu and the two companies—Generation Currency BDC and Nine to Nine BDC—on June 18, 2026, as part of a broader sanctions list update. The Nigeria Sanctions Committee said the designation of six individuals and three companies followed "extensive intelligence gathering, financial investigations and inter-agency assessments" that established reasonable grounds to believe the affected persons and entities facilitated, financed, or supported the activities of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and associated terrorist networks.

The individuals sanctioned by Nigeria are Ibrahim Yakubu Ogirima, Muktar Muhammad Adamu, Adamu Chiroma, Ibrahim Abubakar, Abdullahi Umar Usman, and Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam. The entities are Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau De Change Limited, Generation Currency BDC Limited, and Nine to Nine BDC Limited.

In response to the U.S. action, the Nigeria Sanctions Committee directed all financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions to comply fully with sanctions obligations, including asset-freezing requirements, filing Suspicious Transaction Reports, and reporting relevant matches to the appropriate authorities. The committee said the U.S. action "effectively places Washington's weight behind sanctions already imposed by Nigeria."

The federal government reiterated that terrorists and their financiers "will find no safe haven" within Nigeria's financial system.

Perspectives

The Nigeria Sanctions Committee, speaking for the federal government, welcomed the U.S. sanctions as a "significant step in the global fight against terrorism" and stressed Nigeria's prior actions and commitment to combating terrorism financing. The committee framed the U.S. move as complementing Nigeria's own sanctions and enforcement efforts.

The U.S. Department of State, through spokesperson Thomas "Tommy" Pigott, framed the sanctions as part of a broader effort under President Trump's leadership to "dismantle ISIS's ability to finance terrorism around the world," emphasizing the cutting off of financial lifelines that enable ISIS to fund attacks and threaten civilians, including religious minorities.