FG NAMES 6 BDC OPERATORS, 9 INDIVIDUALS FINANCING TERRORISM

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The Federal Government has named 15 entities said to be involved in terrorism financing. They include nine individuals and six Bureau De Change operators and firms.

The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, disclosed this in an email to The Punch on Tuesday. It was titled “Designation of Individuals and Entities for March 18, 2024.”

According to the document, the Nigeria Sanctions Committee met on March 18, 2024. At the meeting, specific individuals and entities were recommended for sanction following their involvement in terrorism financing.

The suspects

Those named in the document for financing terrorism include Tukur Mamu, a Kaduna-based publisher, who is currently being tried for allegedly aiding the terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train in March 2022.

Also, another was “a member of the terrorist group Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladissudam, associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

“(He) specialises in designing terrorist clandestine communication code and he is also an Improvised Explosive Device, IED, expert.

“The subject was also a gatekeeper to ANSARU leader, Mohammed Usman, aka Khalid Al-Bamawi.

“Equally, he was a courier and travel guide to AQIM Katibat in the desert of Algeria and Mali. He is into carpentry. The subject fled Kuje Correctional Centre on July 5, 2022. He is currently at large.”

Another named among those financing terrorism was “a senior commander of the Islamic State of West Africa, Province Okene.”

He “came into the limelight in 2012 as North Central Wing of Boko Haram.

“The group is suspected of the attacks carried out around Federal Capital Territory and the South West Geographical Zone. These include the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.”

Again, another, a female, is a financial courier to ISWAP Okene and responsible for the disbursement of funds to the widows/wives of the terrorist fighters.”

One more of those accused of financing terrorism transferred N60 million to terrorism convicts in 2015. He received N189 million between 2016 and 2018. He “own entities and business reported in the UAE court judgment as facilitating the transfer of terrorist funds from Dubai to Nigeria.”

Another “received a total of N57 million from between 2014 and 2017. Furthermore, another was said to have “had a total inflow of N61.4 billion and a total outflow of N51.7 billion from his accounts.”

Recommendations for terrorism financing suspects

According to the document, The Punch reported that, per Section 54 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, institutions and individuals are required to:

“(a) immediately, identify and freeze, without prior notice, all funds, assets, and any other economic resources belonging to the designated persons and entities in your possession and report same to the Sanctions Committee;

“(b) report to the Sanctions Committee any assets frozen or actions taken in compliance with the prohibition requirements.

“(c) immediately file a Suspicious Transactions Report to the NFIU for further analysis on the financial activities of such an individual or entity; and

“(d) report as a Suspicious Transactions Report to the NFIU, all cases of name matching in financial transactions prior to or after receipt of this List. ”

It said, “The freezing obligation required above shall extend to:

“(a) all funds or other assets that are owned or controlled by the designated persons and entities, and not only those that are tied to a particular act, plot, or threat of terrorism or terrorism financing;

“(b) those funds or other assets that are wholly or jointly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by designated persons or entities;