CBN Orders Banks to Freeze Accounts Linked to Terror Financing Suspects

(Central Bank of Nigeria. Photo Credit: Guardian Nigerian News)

Following new sanctions imposed by Nigerian and US authorities, the Central Bank of Nigeria has instructed banks and other financial institutions to promptly freeze the accounts and assets of people and organizations designated for terrorism and terrorism funding.

The CBN’s Compliance Department issued the directive in a circular dated June 24, 2026, to all banks, Payment Service Banks, and other financial institutions subject to the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 regulations.

The circular states that the action comes after the Nigeria Sanctions Committee and the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control recently designated sanctions on terrorism and terrorism financing under Executive Order 13224, as modified.

As of June 18, 2026, the Nigeria Sanctions List has been revised. According to the apex bank, these designations are legally obligatory sanctions that all regulated firms must immediately execute.

Muktar Muhammad Adamu, Babangida Muhammad Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma, and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim were the six people listed by the CBN as being under the sanctions regime.

Additionally, it identified four Bureau de Change operators in Nigeria that were either owned or under their influence.

These are Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau de Change Limited, Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau de Change Limited, Manhattan Bureau de Change Limited, and Generation Currency Bureau de Change Limited.

The top bank instructed all financial institutions to promptly check all incoming and outgoing transactions, beneficial owners, and current clients against the most recent sanctions lists, which include known aliases and IDs, as part of the compliance efforts.

Additionally, it mandated that banks immediately freeze all money, assets, and other financial resources that belong to or are under the direct or indirect control of the specified individuals and organizations.

“Identify and immediately freeze, without prior notice, all funds, assets, and other economic resources belonging to, owned, held, or controlled (directly or indirectly) by the designated persons and entities, including those owned 50 percent or more, individually or collectively,” the circular said.

Financial institutions were also instructed by the CBN to make sure that no money, financial services, or economic resources be provided to the sanctioned individuals or organizations, either directly or indirectly.

For any verified or attempted matches, it directed banks to promptly submit Suspicious Transaction Reports to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

Additionally, within 48 hours of the circular, the regulator instructed all financial institutions to submit compliance reports to the CBN, including any matches found, the accounts impacted, the sums frozen or restricted, and the steps taken.

Institutions that do not have corresponding accounts are likewise required to provide mandatory nil returns.

Additionally, the circular instructed banks to keep a closer eye out for signs of terrorism funding, such as the fast and structured transfer of funds, the use of money service companies, bureaux de change, and unofficial routes, as well as transactions involving high-risk jurisdictions.

In order to identify past or attempted transactions and client relationships associated with the specified persons, it also mandated that financial institutions perform retrospective reviews.

The CBN issued a warning against non-compliance, stating that all submissions must be true, comprehensive, and verifiable and that providing inaccurate or deceptive information would be a regulatory infraction.

According to BOFIA 2020 and other relevant regulations, “any false or misleading information shall constitute a regulatory violation and will attract sanctions.”

Stressing that the decision “takes immediate effect,” it further stated that the CBN would carry out supervisory interactions, on-site inspections, and off-site evaluations to confirm compliance.

A Nigerian person and three Nigerian-based businesses were recently labeled by the US as putative financial facilitators of activities associated with the terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

They were named in the most recent action, which targeted six organizations and three people in total who were allegedly involved in the transfer of money for ISIS activities around the world.

As previously reported online, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria declared its complete support for recent domestic and international enforcement actions aimed at protecting the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system and strongly denounced the financing of terrorism.