Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed capital market operators to immediately freeze the funds, assets and other economic resources belonging to six individuals and three entities designated as terrorist financiers by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC).
The directive was contained in a circular signed by SEC management on June 26, 2026, and published on the commission’s website. It was implemented in accordance with the provisions of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act (TPPA) 2022.
According to the SEC, the Nigeria Sanctions Committee designated the six individuals and three entities under the TPPA 2022 before adding them to the Nigeria Sanctions List.
The six designated individuals are Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam, Abdullahi Umar Usman, Ibrahim Abubakar, Adamu Chiroma, Muktar Muhammad Adamu and Yakubu Ogirima Ibrahim. The three entities placed on the sanctions list are Nine to Nine BDC Limited, Generation Currency BDC Limited and Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau de Change.
The SEC said the individuals were designated over alleged involvement in terrorism financing and providing material or financial support to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Specifically, Hammajam was listed on June 18, 2026, for his involvement in terrorism financing and active support for ISWAP. Usman was designated for allegedly providing material support to a designated terrorist organisation through repeated financial transactions.
The three designated entities were allegedly involved in facilitating and channelling funds connected to the ISWAP Okene financing network. The individuals were also linked to facilitating transactions tied to ISWAP’s Okene and Kogi cells.
The SEC mandated Capital Market Regulated Entities (CMREs) to identify and freeze all listed assets without prior notice to the designated individuals or entities. Operators were also instructed to prohibit dealings with the designated persons and entities and maintain continuous monitoring of transactions involving them.
Operators were instructed to submit full compliance reports including details of frozen assets and any attempted transactions to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Sanctions Committee. Additionally, the commission directed all regulated firms to file Suspicious Transaction Reports directly with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for deeper analysis. The commission also instructed operators to report as suspicious all cases of name matches in financial transactions, whether occurring before or after receipt of the sanctions list.
The SEC warned that the circular takes immediate effect and that failure to comply constitutes a violation of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025, and the SEC’s AML/CFT Rules and Regulations.
The SEC’s directive forms part of broader efforts by financial regulators to prevent Nigeria’s capital market from being used to move, conceal or facilitate funds associated with terrorism and other illicit financial activities. The latest directive comes against the backdrop of an earlier sanctions exercise in which the SEC ordered the freezing of assets belonging to 10 individuals and three entities allegedly linked to terrorism financing across Nigeria’s capital market.
Under Nigeria’s sanctions framework, financial institutions and capital market operators are required to act swiftly on lists issued by the NSC to prevent illicit funds from moving through the formal financial system.
