The Federal Government on Saturday published the names of 48 individuals and groups it alleges are involved in financing terrorist activities across Nigeria, in a move that marks one of the most significant public disclosures of terrorism financing suspects in the country's decades-long battle against extremism.
The list was released by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee, known as NIGSAC, and includes a mix of individual persons and corporate entities suspected of providing financial or logistical support to terrorist operations within and beyond Nigeria's borders. The sanctions regime under which the list was published was established by the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act of 2022, which empowers the government to enforce United Nations-directed financial penalties targeting terrorism financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Among the most prominent names on the list is Simon Ekpa, the Finland-based self-styled Prime Minister of Biafra who has long been accused of inciting violence and funding separatist activities in the South-East. Also named is Tukur Mamu, the journalist and former negotiator in the release of kidnapped train passengers, with NIGSAC alleging that preliminary investigations had revealed his involvement in terrorism financing. Three already proscribed organisations also feature prominently on the list, namely the Indigenous People of Biafra, Ansarul Sudan commonly known as Ansaru, and the Islamic State West Africa Province, known as ISWAP.
Other individuals named on the list include Abdulsamat Ohida, Mohammed Sani, Abdurrahaman Abdurrahaman, Fatima Ishaq, Yusuf Ghazali, Abubakar Muhammad, Sallamudeen Hassan, Adamu Ishak, Hassana Isah, Abdulkareem Musa, Umar Abdullahi, Abdurrahaman Ado, Bashir Yusuf, Ibrahim Alhassan, Muhammad Isah, Salihu Adamu, Surajo Mohammad, Fannami Bukar, Muhammed Musa, Sahabi Ismail, Mohammed Buba, Adamu Hassan, Hassan Mohammed, Usman Abubakar, Kubara Salawu, Rabiu Suleiman, Godstime Iyare, Francis Mmadubuchi, John Onwumere, Chikwuka Eze, Edwin Chukwuedo, Chiwendu Owoh, Ginika Orji, Awo Uchechukwu, Mercy Ali, Ohagwu Juliana, Eze Okpoto, Nwaobi Chimezie and Ogumu Kewe. Also listed are groups identified as Jama'atu Wal-Jihad, Yan Group and Yan Group NLBDG.
The publication of the list came barely 24 hours after the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, concluded the ninth phase of a mass trial involving over 500 persons linked to the Boko Haram terrorist sect. The four-day trial sessions were conducted by 10 judges of the Federal High Court in Abuja, where a total of 386 convictions were secured by the Federal Government. The convicted persons received various sentences including life imprisonment, with the courts also issuing consequential orders recommending that they undergo deradicalisation programmes.
Fagbemi, who led the Federal Government's legal team alongside the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the trials and said the punishments handed down were intended to send a clear and unmistakable signal to anyone involved in terrorism and terrorism financing in Nigeria. "There is no space for them here in Nigeria. We cannot stop them from going elsewhere, but as far as Nigeria is concerned, we cannot accommodate them. We have been able to bring justice to them, or rather, bring them to justice. This is the clear signal we are sending," Fagbemi stated.
The simultaneous release of the sanctions list and the conclusion of the mass terror trials represents the most coordinated public action by the Federal Government against terrorism financing networks since the insurgency began over a decade ago, and comes amid renewed and deadly attacks by terrorists in the North-East and growing public anger over the persistent security crisis in northern Nigeria.
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