The United States Government has designated a Lagos-based Nigerian, Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, also known as Muhammad Mukhtar Adamu and Adamu Mukhtar, as an alleged financier of the Islamic State in West Africa Province, accusing him of facilitating money transfers for the terrorist group through bureau de change operations in Nigeria.
The designation was announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as part of a broader counter-terrorism sanctions programme targeting individuals and entities allegedly involved in ISIS financial networks across Europe, the Middle East and West Africa.
According to the U.S. authorities, three individuals and six entities were sanctioned for allegedly enabling ISIS to move funds across international borders in support of its operations and affiliated groups.
The U.S. Government said the measures were designed to disrupt financial channels allegedly used by ISIS to coordinate attacks, sustain its regional affiliates and threaten civilian populations, including religious minorities.
Muhammad, 35, was identified by OFAC as a Nigerian national and alleged financial facilitator for ISIS-West Africa. U.S. authorities alleged that he conducted financial transactions and money transfers on behalf of the terrorist group.
OFAC listed his address as Agege, Lagos State, and gave his date of birth as August 2, 1990, with an alternative date of birth of August 3, 1990.
The U.S. Government also imposed sanctions on three Nigeria-based money service businesses allegedly owned, controlled or directed by him.
They are Nine To Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, located at the FAAN Complex, Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos; Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited, located on Murtala Mohammed Way in Kano; and Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, based in Lagos.
According to OFAC records, Nine To Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited was incorporated on August 22, 2017, with Registration Number RC 1462752.
Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited was registered on January 26, 2021, with Registration Number RC 1763824, while Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited was incorporated on January 9, 2019, with Registration Number RC 1555604.
The sanctions were imposed under Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists, terrorist organisations, their leaders, and persons or entities that provide support to them.
The U.S. said the wider network operated in France, Turkiye, Syria and Nigeria, and allegedly helped fund ISIS attacks, support its affiliates and threaten civilians.
Also sanctioned was Abderrahmane Miloud, also known as Ghazi Ibrahim, a French national accused of conducting transactions with ISIS-linked individuals and providing explosives-related information to ISIS supporters.
Another person named was Abdelhakim Boukich, also known as Babili Muhammad, a Syria-based financial facilitator alleged to have controlled a Bitcoin exchange used for ISIS-related transfers.
The U.S. authorities said the Syria-based operator allegedly used cryptocurrency to transfer funds for ISIS associates in multiple countries, including the United States.
The Treasury Department said ISIS has increasingly relied on decentralised networks, regional affiliates and financial intermediaries as a result of sustained international counter-terrorism pressure.
“Under the leadership of President Trump, the United States is dismantling ISIS’s ability to finance terrorism around the world,” said U.S. State Department spokesperson, Thomas “Tommy” Pigott.
“We are cutting off the financial lifelines that enable ISIS to fund attacks, support its regional affiliates, and threaten civilians, including religious minorities,” he added.
Pigott said the sanctions reflected continued pressure on ISIS as the group decentralises its operations and relies on financial intermediaries to connect its global network.
“These actions reflect the United States’ unrelenting pressure on ISIS, which continues to decentralize its operations and rely on financial intermediaries to connect its global network,” he said.