U.S. Targets Nigerian Bureaux de Change in ISIS Crackdown

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated three Nigerian bureaux de change as part of a crackdown on ISIS financing.

Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad is accused of conducting money transfers and providing financial services on behalf of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). The sanctions target nine exchange bureaux and are part of broader operations to dismantle terrorist networks operating in the Lake Chad region.

The U.S. also sanctioned individuals like Miloud Abderrahman and Abdelhakim Boukich, who are alleged to facilitate financial transactions for ISIS. This move comes amid increasing concerns over the vulnerability of Nigeria's financial system to exploitation by terrorist groups, particularly as ISWAP has transformed the conflict in northeastern Nigeria since its emergence in 2016.

The sanctions aim to block assets and prohibit transactions with designated entities, reinforcing counterterrorism measures in Nigeria.