By Abiola Olawale
The Federal Government has said that it has identified 15 entities allegedly involved in sponsoring and financing terrorism in the country.
The details of the 15 entities, including nine individuals and six Bureau De Change operators and firms, were revealed by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
In its report titled: “Identification of Persons and Organizations as of March 18, 2024,” the unit said the Nigeria Sanctions Committee convened on March 18, 2024, during which certain individuals and entities were identified for sanction due to their ties to terrorism financing.
A Kaduna-based publisher has allegedly been identified as one of the individuals purportedly sponsoring terrorist activities in the country. According to the federal government, this suspect is currently standing trial by the Federal Government for allegedly aiding the terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train in March 2022.
The document alleged that Mamu “participated in the financing of terrorism by receiving and delivering ransom payments over the sum of $200,000 US in support of ISWAP terrorists for the release of hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.”
In the document, the NFIU claimed that it has also identified the individual responsible for attacking the St. Francis Catholic Church Owo, Ondo State on June 5, 2022, and the Kuje Correctional Center, Abuja on July 5, 2022.
The document said, “The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, with the approval of the President, has thereupon designated the following individuals and entities to be listed on the Nigeria Sanctions List.”
Another was described as a member of the terrorist group Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladissudam; the group is alleged to be associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
“The subject was trained and served under Muktar Belmokhtar, aka One Eyed Out, led Al-Murabtoun Katibat of AQIM in Algeria and Mali.”
The NFIU alleged that the individual “specializes in designing terrorist clandestine communication code and he is also an Improvised Explosive Device 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 was identified as an alleged “senior commander of the Islamic State of West Africa Province Okene.”
The individual, as indicated by the agency, “came into limelight in 2012 at the 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, including the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.”
Another was described as “a financial courier to ISWAP Okene. She was alleged to be responsible for the disbursement of funds to the widows/wives of the terrorist fighters of the group.”
According to the document, another of the individuals “in 2015, transferred N60m to terrorism convicts.”
He was also said to have “received a sum of N189m between 2016 and 2018.”
The same person is said to “own entities and businesses reported in the UAE court judgment as facilitating the transfer of terrorist funds from Dubai to Nigeria.”
Another individual was said to have “received a total of N57m between 2014 and 2017.”
Another was said to have “had a total inflow of N61.4 bn and a total outflow of N51.7bn from his accounts.”
