The Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC) has welcomed the decision of the United States (U.S.) to sanction three bureaux de change (BDCs) and individuals over alleged links to terrorism financing.

This was as security experts called for improved and hostile intelligence surveillance over the terror financial presence in Lagos State. They also said the state must act to avoid a semblance of the 911 attack, which reportedly took approximately three years to plan and execute by al-Qaeda.

Other experts added that fighting terrorism in the country would be a Herculean task because one of their sources of finance, the BDCs, is not being strictly regulated.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Mukhtar Adamu and three Nigerian BDCs for allegedly facilitating financial transactions on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The U.S. said Adamu used his businesses in Lagos and Kano as conduits for moving funds linked to the terrorist group.

The firms named by Washington are Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, and Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited.

The sanctions were part of a broader crackdown targeting individuals and entities across Europe, the Middle East and West Africa accused of helping ISIS move funds across borders.

In a statement yesterday, the NSC said the U.S. action followed the inclusion of Adamu and his companies in the Nigeria Sanctions List published on June 18, 2026.

“The Nigeria Sanctions Committee welcomes the recent inclusion of Mukthar Muhammad Adamu, Nine to Nine BDC and Generation BDC Limited by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) yesterday,” the statement reads

The committee said the designation was based on extensive intelligence gathering, financial investigations and inter-agency assessments.

According to the NSC, there were reasonable grounds to believe that the affected individuals and entities “facilitated, financed, supported or otherwise contributed” to the activities of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and associated terrorist networks.

The Federal Government reiterated its directive to financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions to comply with sanctions obligations, including freezing assets, filing suspicious transaction reports, and reporting relevant matches to authorities.

The committee also commended the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMoJ), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Department of State Services (DSS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for their roles in disrupting terrorist financing networks.

SPEAKING with The Guardian, yesterday, security consultant, Austen Panor, said: “I think we have passed that stage where we think about the implications of the U.S. revelation; the truth is that the U.S., Canada and others rated Nigeria as a high-risk country and I do not know who is giving the risk assessment for Lagos State and calling it the safest state in Nigeria.

The assessment is completely inaccurate. From the rate of incidences going on in Lagos, that’s not accurate. The threat of banditry, kidnapping, and terror attacks is low in Lagos, but there are a lot of other states safer than Lagos, especially in the south.

“Unfortunately for all of us, terror financiers and sponsors reside everywhere across the globe; so, the first thing is to find out what the security posture of the state looks like and we’ll input the component of having alleged terror financiers in the state. Nigeria is a high-risk country and there is no state considered a low-risk state; all the states are medium risk and above and Lagos is sitting in one of those rankings.”

The CEO ofBadison Security, Matthew Ibadin, said: “The report indicates that the state needs to double its efforts because it’s very bad to be fighting guerrilla wars. The Lagos government, as a matter of urgency, should strengthen the Community Development Areas (CDAs). Every CDA must know more about people living in their localities. This is the time for the police to enter suspicious homes to carry out an evaluation. The government should ensure a thorough documentation of each person.”

However, when The Guardian reached out to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police on the report, he said, “I am not aware of the report. I’ve not been briefed. I don’t have the report with me now.”

REACTING to the U.S. designation of a Nigerian and some firms in the country as financial facilitators of activities linked to ISIS, a security expert, Nengi James, said the U.S. was not far from the truth.

“Even the Federal Government is aware of the U.S. revelation and because manyofficials are owners and sponsors of the BDCs. This is an institutional failure on the part of the Nigerian government.

“It (terrorism financing) is an organised crime. It is not the suspect only; there must be other financial institutions that are involved in the entire terrorist financing business in Nigeria and beyond.”

A security consultant, Abubakar Sadeeq, noted that to fight terrorism in Nigeria would be very difficult because the people funding terrorism live in the country. He alleged that some of them are agents of foreign countries’ intelligence organisations, as well as some “portfolio contractors” that do business with “highly-placed people”.

James, who is also the Executive Director of the Niger Delta Development Initiative (NDDI), described the nation’s entire financial system as “very porous”, while the financial management and accountability governance system lacks transparency.

According to him, the stealing of public funds in Nigeria is becoming an open market for the leadership. “Anti-graft institutions, among others, are all compromised and indeed, the rule of law is no longer obeyed. Even the ordinary citizen in Nigeria no longer trusts the system and institutions.”