US sanctions Nigerian money changers over ISIS financing

The United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the State Department imposed terrorism‑related sanctions on Nigerian national Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad and three Nigerian bureau de change firms – Generation Currency Bureau De Change Ltd (Lagos), Manhattan Bureau De Change Ltd (Kano) and Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Ltd (Lagos). The designations target three individuals and six entities across Europe, the Middle East and West Africa, including a France‑based facilitator, a Syria‑based cryptocurrency operator and two Turkey‑based money‑transfer companies. All designated assets in U.S. jurisdiction are blocked and U.S. persons are prohibited from conducting transactions with them.

Nigeria’s Sanctions Committee welcomed the action, noting that the individuals and firms had already been added to Nigeria’s own sanctions list after extensive intelligence and financial investigations. The sanctions are part of a broader U.S. effort to disrupt the financing network of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and its global affiliates, a network described by State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott as spanning from France and Syria to Türkiye and Nigeria. Officials said the measures follow recent joint counter‑terrorism operations, including the killing of ISIS operative Abu‑Bilal al‑Minuki, and reaffirmed U.S.–Nigeria partnership in combating terrorist financing.