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The Federal Government has listed 15 companies and persons, including a Kaduna-based publisher, Tukur Mamu, as terrorism financiers in the country.
As reported by The Punch, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) listed the identities of the 15 entities, consisting of nine individuals and six Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and firms.
Acting on a Federal Government directive, the Nigerian Sanctions Committee met on Monday, March 18, 2024, and recommended specific individuals and entities for sanction following their involvement in terrorism financing, the newspaper quoted an NFIU document.
“The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, with the approval of the President, has thereupon designated the following individuals and entities to be listed on the Nigeria Sanctions List,” the document partly read.
One of the prominent names on the list was Mamu, who is currently being tried by the Federal Government for allegedly complicit in the Abuja-Kaduna train in March 2022.
According to the document, the publisher “participated in the financing of terrorism by receiving and delivering ransom payments over the sum of $200,000 US in support of ISWAP terrorists for the release of hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.”
The document also identified one of the culprits as “the suspected attacker of the St. Francis Catholic Church Owo, Ondo State on June 5, 2022, and the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, on July 5, 2022.”
Another was described as “a member of the terrorist group Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladissudam, the group is associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
“The subject was trained and served under Muktar Belmokhtar, aka One Eyed Out, led Al-Murabtoun Katibat of AQIM in Algeria and Mali.”
The NFIU said the individual “specialises in designing terrorist clandestine communication code, and he is also an Improvised Explosive Device expert.
“The subject was also a gatekeeper to ANSARU leader, Mohammed Usman aka Khalid Al-Bamawi. Equally, he was a courier and travel guide to AQIM Katibat in the desert of Algeria and Mali. He is into carpentry. The subject fled the Kuje Correctional Centre on July 5, 2022. He is currently at large.”
The agency said the individual “came into the limelight in 2012 as the North Central wing of Boko Haram.
“The group is suspected of the attacks carried out around Federal Capital Territory and the South West Geographical Zone, including the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.”
Another was described as “a financial courier to ISWAP Okene. She is responsible for the disbursement of funds to the widows/wives of the terrorist fighters of the group.”
Listed below are the nine individuals under sanctions;
- 1. Tukur Mamu
- 2. Yusuf Ghazali
- 3. Muhammad Sani
- 4. Abubakar Muhammad
- 5. Sallamudeen Hassan
- 6. Adamu Ishak
- 7. Hassana-Oyiza Isah
- 8. Abdulkareem Musa,
- 9. Umar Abdullahi
The six BDCs and firms are listed below;
- 10. West and East Africa General Trading Company Limited
- 11. Settings Bureau De Change Limited
- 12. G. Side General Enterprises
- 13. Desert Exchange Ventures Limited
- 14. Eagle Square General Trading Company Limited
- 15. Alfa Exchange BDC.
The document further revealed that, in accordance with Section 54 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, institutions and individuals are required to:
“(a) immediately, identify and freeze, without prior notice, all funds, assets, and any other economic resources belonging to the designated persons and entities in your possession and report same to the Sanctions Committee;
“(b) report to the Sanctions Committee any assets frozen or actions taken in compliance with the prohibition requirements.
“(c) immediately file a Suspicious Transactions Report to the NFIU for further analysis on the financial activities of such an individual or entity; and
“(d) report as a Suspicious Transactions Report to the NFIU, all cases of name matching in financial transactions prior to or after receipt of this List. ”
It said, “The freezing obligation required above shall extend to
“(a) all funds or other assets that are owned or controlled by the designated persons and entities, and not only those that are tied to a particular act, plot, or threat of terrorism or terrorism financing;
“(b) those funds or other assets that are wholly or jointly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by designated persons or entities;
“(c) the funds or other assets derived or generated from funds or other assets owned or controlled directly or indirectly by designated persons or entities; and
“(d) funds or other assets of persons and entities acting on behalf of, or at the direction of designated persons or entities.”