By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
In furtherance of its renewed interest in the war against terrorism in Nigeria and elsewhere, the United States Treasury Department has revealed the identity of a Nigerian who is helping the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – ISIS, with their West African affiliate, Islamic State West African Province – ISWAP, with financial transactions and sponsorship. In a press release by the Treasury Department entitled, “Treasury Targets ISIS facilitators and Disrupts Terrorists Financial Networks,” the US Treasury Secretary Scot Bessent revealed that the global terrorist network “continues to seek new methods and tools to finance terrorist attacks.” Mr. Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad (Muhammed), who owns or controls at least three Bureau de Change (BDCs) based in Lagos and Kano, that aid ISIS with financial transactions, has been implicated as the group’s financial facilitator in Nigeria.
According to the report by the US Treasury Department, ISIS financial transactions cut across different countries, including Nigeria, Turkey, Norway, South Africa, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the US. “ISIS relies on a wide network of financial facilitators that enables the group’s operations… Financial facilitators provide critical connectivity between these nodes and ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces, which provides operational guidance and funding to ISIS regional offices,” a part of the statement said.
In West Africa, “On May 16, 2026, President Trump announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki (al-Minuki) in a coordinated effort involving the United States Department of War and the Government of Nigeria. Al-Minuki, designated by the U.S. Department of State on June 8, 2023 pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, was the number two official in ISIS and led ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces,” the statement remarked. The Nigerian and three Nigerian BDC operators implicated by the US Treasury Department, according to the statement, are “Nigeria-based Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad (Muhammad) is an ISIS in West Africa (ISIS-WA) financial facilitator that has conducted money transfers on behalf of ISIS-WA. Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau de Change Limited (Nine Exchange), Manhattan Bureau de Change Limited (Manhattan Bureau), and Generation Currency Bureau de Change Limited (Generation Currency) are Nigeria-based MSBs that are owned, controlled, or directed by Muhammad,” the statement read.
Therefore, “Muhammad is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, ISIS-WA,” the US Treasury Department concluded.
