The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered banks, payment service banks and other regulated financial institutions to immediately freeze accounts and assets linked to six named individuals and four Nigeria-based bureaux de change (BDCs) after those parties were designated under terrorism sanctions by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee and the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (under Executive Order 13224). The CBN’s circular, signed by Olubunmi Ayodele-Oni of the Compliance Department, takes immediate effect and follows an update to the Nigeria Sanctions List on June 18.
The six individuals are Muktar Muhammad Adamu; Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam; Abdullahi Umar Usman; Ibrahim Abubakar; Adamu Chiroma; and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim. The four BDCs and money-service businesses named as owned or controlled by them are Generation Currency Bureau de Change Limited, Manhattan Bureau de Change Limited, Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau de Change Limited, and Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau de Change Limited.
Regulated entities must:
- Screen current customers, accounts, beneficial owners and all incoming/outgoing transactions against the updated sanctions lists (including aliases and other identifiers).
- Immediately freeze, without prior notice, any funds, assets or economic resources owned or controlled directly or indirectly by the designated persons or entities, including holdings of 50% or more.
- Refuse to provide funds, financial services or other economic resources to or for the benefit of the listed parties.
Financial institutions must file suspicious transaction reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for any confirmed or attempted matches, and submit a detailed report to the CBN within 48 hours outlining match status, affected accounts, frozen amounts and actions taken (or a nil return if no matches are found). The CBN also ordered enhanced monitoring for terrorism-financing i.e rapid or structured fund movements, use of MSBs/BDCs, informal transfer channels and transactions involving high-risk jurisdictions; and directed firms to perform look-back reviews of past or attempted dealings with the designated parties.
CBN has also warned that all submissions must be accurate, complete and verifiable; providing false or misleading information would constitute a regulatory breach subject to penalties under BOFIA 2020 and other laws.
