The United States has imposed sanctions on a Nigerian businessman and three currency exchange companies, accusing them of helping to finance the militant group Islamic State (ISIS) through an international network stretching from West Africa to the Middle East.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the US Department of the Treasury said it had designated Nigerian national Muhammad Mukhtar Adamu and three companies linked to him as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
The Treasury alleged that Mr Adamu acted as a financial facilitator for ISIS in West Africa, helping to move funds on behalf of the group.
The companies named in the sanctions are Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau de Change Limited, Manhattan Bureau de Change Limited, and Generation Currency Bureau de Change Limited. According to US authorities, the businesses were owned, controlled, or directed by Mr Adamu.
The sanctions are part of a wider action targeting three individuals and six entities across Europe, the Middle East and West Africa that the US says were involved in processing financial transactions for ISIS.
Among those also sanctioned were Miloud Abderrahmane, based in France, who was accused of providing information on the use of explosives to ISIS supporters, and Abdelhakim Boukich, based in Syria, who allegedly used cryptocurrency transactions to transfer funds for ISIS-linked individuals in several countries, including the United States.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said ISIS continued to look for new ways to fund its activities despite years of international counterterrorism efforts.
“ISIS continues to seek new methods and tools to finance terrorist attacks,” Mr Bessent said. “The United States will leverage every tool at its disposal to crush ISIS’s remaining capabilities and protect American lives.”
The Treasury said ongoing pressure from international authorities had forced ISIS to rely on more fragmented and complex financing methods. It cited recent US counterterrorism assessments and financial crime advisories as evidence of the group’s evolving tactics.
The sanctions come weeks after a joint US-Nigerian operation that reportedly led to the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, whom US officials described as ISIS’s second-highest-ranking official and the head of its General Directorate of Provinces.
Under the sanctions, any assets belonging to the designated individuals or entities that are located in the United States, or controlled by US persons, will be frozen. American citizens and businesses are also prohibited from conducting transactions with them.
The measures could also affect foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for those sanctioned, potentially limiting their access to the US financial system.
Neither Mr Adamu nor the companies named in the sanctions have publicly responded to the allegations.
