On June 22, 2026, the US State Department and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, a resident of Agege, Lagos, and three Nigerian firms he allegedly owns or controls for facilitating ISIS financing. The firms are Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited in Lagos, incorporated January 2019; Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited on Murtala Mohammed Way, Kano, incorporated January 2021; and Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited at FAAN Complex, Airport Road, Lagos, incorporated August 2017. The US designated Muhammad a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, saying he’s an ISIS in West Africa financial facilitator who conducted money transfers for the group, and that the three BDCs acted as conduits for ISIS-WA operations.
The action was part of wider sanctions targeting 3 individuals and 6 entities across France, Syria, Türkiye, and Nigeria. Others named include French national Abderrahmane Miloud, Syria-based Abdelhakim Boukich who used crypto for ISIS transfers, two Turkish firms Alkaram Danismanlik and Spider Gayrimenkul, and Syrian crypto exchange Bitcoin Exchange Agent Idlib’s No.1 Coin Exchange. State Dept spokesperson Thomas Pigott said ISIS now relies on financial intermediaries and decentralized networks to move money, and that these sanctions reflect “unrelenting pressure” on the group.
The US also highlighted counterterrorism cooperation with Nigeria, citing a joint May 16, 2026 operation that killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as ISIS’s number two official. Under Executive Order 13224, all property of the sanctioned persons under US jurisdiction is blocked and US persons are barred from transactions with them.
