The Central Bank of Nigeria has drawn a red line in the sand.The move signals that Nigeria’s financial watchdogs are done playing defense.
Apex Bank Sounds Red Alert
In a statement released yesterday, CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, said terrorism financing supervision is now “one of its current priorities.”
The new framework, she explained, will zero in on four pressure points: how institutions assess terrorism financing risk, how they monitor transactions for red flags, how they enforce targeted financial sanctions, and how quickly they report suspicious activity.
Gone are the days of waiting for trouble to surface. The CBN says it will deploy a risk-based approach, meaning banks and institutions deemed most exposed will face closer, more aggressive scrutiny — both on-site and off-site.
“This supervisory focus also supports Nigeria’s domestic and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing and financial integrity,” Sidi-Ali stated, hinting that more enforcement actions are coming.
Sanctions Net Closes on 6 Individuals, 3 BDCs
The crackdown comes days after the Nigeria Sanctions Committee, under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022, blacklisted six individuals and three Bureau De Change firms for allegedly bankrolling ISWAP operations.
The list reads like a wanted bulletin. It includes Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma, Muktar Muhammad Adamu, and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim — all accused of channeling funds to ISWAP cells in Borno, Kogi and Okene.
The sanctioned BDCs — Nine to Nine BDC Ltd, Generation Currency BDC Ltd, and Abbal Bako & Sons BDC — were named for allegedly moving money for the ISWAP Okene network.
Freeze Orders and Zero Tolerance
In a national circular, the CBN ordered all financial operators to immediately freeze, without notice, any funds, assets or economic resources linked to the designated persons and entities, and report to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Sanctions Committee.
Analysts say the message is blunt: comply, or be complicit. With the new risk-based dragnet now active, Nigerian banks are being told the era of plausible deniability is over.
