The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has officially announced that it has identified 15 entities for sanctions due to suspected involvement in financing terrorism.
Allub Times reports that the sanctioned entities consist of nine individuals and six Bureau De Change (BDC) companies, and their identities have been disclosed.
During a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the NFIU spokesperson, Sani Tukur, confirmed the list of terrorism financiers in the country, which was initially reported by The Punch.
Tukur mentioned that the designations were authorized by President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
He explained that the Nigeria Sanctions Committee convened on March 18, 2024, and recommended specific individuals and companies for sanctions due to their involvement in terrorism financing.
He said, “I just want to provide an update and context to the issue of designation of terrorism financiers. It wasn’t actually a statement from the NFIU but a release by the Nigerian Sanctions Committee. However, the NFIU is the secretariat of the committee, hence the email that was used by the committee to send to its subscribers.
“It is a requirement that once analysis is done and persons and entities are designated as financiers, such is published on the website of the Sanctions Committee immediately. Once it is so published, all subscribers will receive it in their email boxes. It so happens that only Sanusi from The PUNCH has subscribed to the list, and that is why he received it immediately after it was published.
“The procedure for the designation is such that once persons are determined to be financiers, the list is sent to the President for approval through the Attorney General of the Federation.
“Before persons and entities are so designated, a meeting of the National Sanctions Committee is held at the Attorney General’s office and decisions are taken there.
“The NFIU email was used to send to subscribers because the NFIU is the secretariat of the Sanctions Committee. The recent designation information was sent to over 9,000 recipients, of which Sanusi happens to be the only journalist who received it due to his subscription status.”
