- Six individuals and three companies have been designated as terrorist financiers by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
- SEC orders immediate asset freezes, barring capital market operators from dealing with the listed individuals and entities.
- Non-compliant operators face sanctions, including heavy fines, suspension of operations or revocation of licences.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed capital market operators to immediately freeze the funds, assets and economic resources linked to six individuals and three companies designated as terrorist financiers by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the directive was contained in a circular issued to Capital Market Regulated Entities on Friday and is based on the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.
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The individuals named by the SEC are Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma, Muktar Muhammad Adamu and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim.
The three companies placed on the sanctions list are Nine to Nine BDC Ltd, Generation Currency BDC Ltd and Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau de Change.
According to the SEC, Hammajam was designated on June 18, 2026, over alleged involvement in terrorism financing and active support for the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Usman was designated for allegedly providing material assistance to a terrorist organisation through repeated financial transactions, while Abubakar was listed over alleged terrorism financing and direct membership of ISWAP.
The commission said Chiroma allegedly used Bureau De Change operations and affiliated companies to facilitate the movement of funds linked to terrorist activities.
Muktar Adamu was designated on June 15, 2026, for allegedly facilitating financial network operations for the ISWAP Okene cell, while Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim was accused of providing financial and material support to the ISWAP Kogi cell.
The SEC said the three BDC companies were also implicated in allegedly channelling funds connected to the same Okene financing network.
The latest directive forms part of efforts by Nigerian authorities to disrupt the financial networks supporting terrorist and insurgent activities, particularly in the North-East and North-Central regions.
Under Nigeria’s sanctions framework and the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, financial institutions and capital market operators are required to act on sanctions issued by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee to prevent illicit funds from entering or moving through the formal financial system.
The SEC directed regulated entities to identify and freeze all assets linked to the designated individuals and companies without prior notice.
Operators are also required to submit compliance reports detailing frozen assets and any attempted transactions to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
The commission further instructed regulated firms to file Suspicious Transaction Reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for further analysis.
The SEC said regulated entities must treat name matches in financial transactions as suspicious, regardless of whether the transactions occurred before or after the sanctions list was received.
It also prohibited regulated firms from conducting business with the sanctioned individuals and entities and ordered continuous monitoring of their accounts.
The commission warned that the directive took immediate effect and that failure to comply would constitute a serious violation of the Investments and Securities Act 2025 and the SEC’s Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Rules and Regulations.
Defaulting operators could face regulatory penalties, including heavy fines, suspension of operations or revocation of their licences.
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