THE Federal Government has designated self-styled leader of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE), Simon Ekpa, the Lakurawa terror group and 15 entities as terrorism financiers.
According to documents released by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC), after its meeting on March 6, out of the 15 business entities, 13 are either members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or BRGIE.
The latest designation of terrorism financiers, according to the NSC, was approved by President Bola Tinubu.
The designated IPOB or BRGIE members include Godstime Iyare; Francis Mmaduabuchi; John Onwumere; Chukwuka Eze; Edwin Chukwuedo; Chinwendu Owoh and Ginika Orji.
Others are Awo Uchechukwu; Mercy Ali; Ohagwu Juliana; Eze Okpoto; Nwaobi Chimezie and Ogomu Kewe.
Two business entities, Igwe Ka Ala Enterprises and Seficuvi Global Company, were also designated.
The Eastern Security Network (ESN), an armed group operating as a paramilitary wing of IPOB, has been inflicting terror on people in the Southeast, ostensibly inspired by Ekpa’s digital campaign from his Finland hideout.
Chaired by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, the NSC said the persons and businesses “were recommended for designation following their involvement with terrorism financing” in line with Section 54 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The NSC listed four major sanctions against the designated persons and ordered an immediate identification and freezing, “without prior notice, all funds, assets and any other economic resources belonging to the designated persons in your possession and report same to the Sanctions Committee.”
It added: “Report to the Sanctions Committee any assets frozen or actions taken in compliance with the prohibition requirements.
“Immediately file a Suspicious Transactions Report to the NFIU for further analysis on the financial activities of such an individual or entity.
“All cases of name-matching in financial transactions prior to or after receipt of this list” be reported as a “Suspicious Transactions Report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
“All funds or other assets that are owned or controlled by the designated persons and entities, and not only those that are tied to a particular act, plot, or threat of terrorism or terrorism financing.”
“Those funds or other assets that are wholly or jointly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by designated persons or entities.”
The funds or other assets derived or generated from funds or other assets owned or controlled directly or indirectly by designated persons or entities will also be affected, as well as funds or other assets of persons and entities acting on behalf of, or at the direction of designated persons or entities will also be affected.
NSC urged all reporting entities to comply.
Ekpa was designated for allegedly facilitating about 49 fundraisers in different countries between October 2023 and September 2024.
It further stated: “Through his social media handles, particularly X (former Twitter), the subject was reported to have ordered attacks on government facilities, especially military and paramilitary formations across the southeast.
“These actions resulted in the monumental loss of lives of security personnel and vulnerable population and destroyed government and public properties.”
Lakurawa terror group, operating in the Northwest and linked to the Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM), an affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Sahel, started imposing strict Sharia law before it went violent and finally profiled by the Nigerian authorities.
According to NSC, it was designated for its terrorist activities, including “violent attacks, assassinations and enforcement of radical Islamist rule, imposing strict governance on communities,” as well as for what it referred to as “Foreign Influence and Transnational Operations,” saying the group comprised “primarily of foreign fighters from Niger and Mali, operating across porous borders.”
The group was also designated for recruiting and radicalising “unemployed youth through financial incentives” and also for establishing an “Alternative Governance Structure” through extrajudicial administration, imposing taxes, confiscating property and meting out punishments outside the legal framework.
“Funding and Criminal Enterprise: Lakurawa finances its activities through extortion, forced taxation (Zakat), cattle rustling and ransom from kidnappings. Threat to National and Regional,” and for “its affiliation with JNIM and similar groups heightens the risk of expanded terrorist networks and cross-border insurgency.”
NSC added: “Given the severity of its actions and the threat it poses to national security, the designation of Lakurawa as a terrorist group is essential to curtail its influence, disrupt its financial networks and prevent further violence and instability in Nigeria and the West African region.”
The other 13 individuals were designated for using their account numbers or setting a structure to raise funds for IPOB.
For example, Igwe Ka Ala Enterprises was designated “based on intelligence sources” indicating that a bank account opened in the company’s name and owned by one Okudah Anthony “was used to collect donations for local chapters of BRGIE.”
The funds were reported to have been received into the entity’s Zenith Bank account number 1226773554, “where several members of the group and sympathizers have so far made donations.”
As for Seficuvi Global Company, its “bank accounts are reported to be used by BRGIE to collect funds from members in Nigeria.
“Godswill Ogborin Nwaodun is the owner of the business and is linked to all BRGIE officials.”
IPOB’s leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested in 2015 as a result of his and his organisation’s separatist activities and was charged with treasonable felony and held in detention until 2017.
The Federal High Court in Abuja granted him bail in April 2017, but at the height of the confrontation between IPOB members and the Nigerian soldiers around Kanu’s home in Afara Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State, the IPOB leader subsequently fled Nigeria while on bail.
On 20 September 2017, the Federal Government designated IPOB as a terrorist organisation and Kanu was later apprehended in Kenya in June 2021 and brought back to Nigeria to continue his trial from detention.
