Tinubu names 15 terrorism financiers, speaks on next action

President Bola Tinubu-led federal government has identified 15 alleged terrorism financiers, including six Bureau De Change operators, firms, and nine others.

According to The Punch, the development was detailed in an email it received from the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on Tuesday night, March 19, which was titled "Designation of Individuals and Entities for March 18, 2024."

It further stated that the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC) met on the development on March 18, 2025, and recommended the sanctions of some specific individuals and entities for allegedly being involved in terrorism financing.

Prominent among the individuals named in the document was Tukur Mamu, the Kaduna-based publisher, who was currently on trial by the federal government over his alleged aid to terrorists who attacked the Kaduna-Abuja train line in March 2022.

The document explained that Mamu took part in the financing of terrorism by receiving and delivering ransom payments of $200,000 US in total for ISWAP terrorists for the release of the hostages of the train attacks in March 2022.

According to the document, one of the individuals is "the suspected attacker of the St. Francis Catholic Church Owo, Ondo State on June 5, 2022, and the Kuje Correctional Center, Abuja on July 5, 2022."

Another person named in the document was described as a member of the Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladissudam, a terrorist group associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The individual was said to have been trained and served under Muktar Belmokhtar, popularly referred to as "One-Eyed Out". He had led the Murabtoun Katibat of AQIM in Mali and Algeria.