Senate orders crackdown on bandits flaunting crime cash on TikTok

ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government has published the names of 48 individuals and entities allegedly linked to terrorism financing, ordering financial institutions to freeze their assets as part of a renewed crackdown on funding networks sustaining insurgency and banditry across the country.

The list, released April 11, 2026, by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NIGSAC) in collaboration with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), includes three proscribed terrorist organizations—the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ansaru, and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)—as well as 45 individuals. Prominent names include Simon Ekpa, a Finland-based separatist leader sentenced to six years in 2025 by a Finnish court for terrorism-related offenses, and Tukur Mamu, a Kaduna-based publisher currently on trial in Nigeria for allegedly collecting $420,000 in ransom from families of a 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train attack on behalf of Boko Haram. Other named individuals include Abdulsamat Ohida, Yusuf Ghazali, and more than two dozen others, many from Nigeria’s North and Southeast regions.

The government has ordered all financial institutions to immediately freeze accounts linked to the listed individuals and entities and to report any suspicious transactions to regulatory authorities. The sanctions are authorized under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, which provides the legal framework for asset freezes, financial monitoring, and the dismantling of terrorist support systems.

The announcement follows the ninth phase of mass terrorism trials at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where 386 convictions were secured out of 508 defendants in a four-day session. Attorney General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi stated, “There is no space for them here in Nigeria,” adding that the punishments were intended to send a clear signal to those involved in terrorism and its financing.

Security experts and civil society observers have welcomed the disclosure but warn that enforcement will determine its impact. A retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Salami Abduraheem, told local media, “Publishing a list is only the beginning. The real test is what happens next: arrests, prosecution, and convictions. If these individuals continue to move freely weeks or months after being named, it sends a dangerous signal”. Some analysts have also raised concerns about due process and transparency, noting that previous government lists of terror financiers were not always followed by sustained legal action.

The development comes amid a sharp deterioration in Nigeria’s security environment. The 2026 Global Terrorism Index reported a 46 percent increase in terrorism-related fatalities in Nigeria in 2025, with ISWAP and Boko Haram responsible for 80 percent of those deaths. Nigeria ranks as the fourth most terrorism-affected country globally.