The Nigerian 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.
Among the 15 businesss entities, 13 are either members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or BRGIE, according to documents released by the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC) after its meeting on 6 March.
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The latest designation of terrorism financiers, according to the NSC, was approved by President Bola Tinubu.
The NSC had designated some persons and businesses for terrorism financing as seen here and here.
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The designated IPOB or BRGIE members include Godstime Iyare, Francis Mmaduabuchi, John Onwumere, Chikwuka Eze, Edwin Chukwuedo, Chinwendu Owoh and Ginika Orji.
The Eastern Security Network (ESN), an armed terror group operating under the aegis of IPOB as a paramilitary wing of the organisation, has been inflicting terror on people in the South-east. The group is believed to be inspired by Mr Ekpa’s digital campaign of terror from his hideout in Finland.
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 so designated.
Chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, the NSC said the persons and businesses “were recommended for designation following their involvement with terrorism financing.”
Their designation was in line with Section 54 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, the NSC stated, outlining four major sanctions against the designated persons.
First, the NSC 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.”
“Report to the Sanctions Committee any assets frozen or actions taken in compliance with the prohibition requirements,” the NSC’s second sanction read.
“Immediately file a Suspicious Transactions Report to the NFIU for further analysis on the financial activities of such an individual or entity,” read the third sanction.
Lastly, the NSC ordered that “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).
The NSC further extended the sanctions to “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.”
It stated that the sanction should be extended to “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, according to NSC.
The 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, the body stated, urging all reporting entities to comply.
Why they were designated
For instance, Mr Ekpa, who is based in Finland, was designated for facilitating about 49 fundraisers in different countries between October 2023 and September 2024, according to the NSC document that summarised the sanctions imposed on those designated.
“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,” the NSC document read. “These actions resulted in the monumental loss of lives of security personnel and vulnerable population and destroyed government and public properties.”
Lakurawa terror group, according to a PREMIUM TIMES report, is linked to the Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal Muslimin (JNIM), an affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Sahel.
The group infiltrated Nigeria’s North-west and started imposing strict Shariah law before it went violent and finally profiled by the Nigerian authorities.
Lakurawa was designated for six reasons, the NSC explained.
First, the group was designated for its terrorist activities, including “violent attacks, assassinations, and enforcement of radical Islamist rule, imposing strict governance on communities.”
Secondly, the NSC said it designated the group 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 radicalizing “unemployed youth through financial incentives.”
It was also designated 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,” the NSC said.
Lastly, the NSC said Lakurawa posed a [transborder] security threat. “Its affiliation with JNIM and similar groups heightens the risk of expanded terrorist networks and cross-border insurgency,” it said.
“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 NSC added.
The other 13 individuals were designated for using their account numbers or setting a structure to raise funds for the terror group, IPOB, according to the NSC.
Igwe Ka Ala Enterprises, one of the business entities fingered, was designated “based on intelligence sources” which revealed 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 NSC said 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.”
For Seficuvi Global Company, the second business entity designated, the NSC said, 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,” the NSC stated.
Both IPOB and BRIGIE are groups established to reignite the agitation for the secession of Nigeria’s five South-east states and parts of some neighbouring states as a sovereign Biafra nation – a cause that fomented the devastating Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970.
IPOB’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested in 2015 as a result of his and his organisation’s separatist activities.
He was charged with treasonable felony and held in detention until 2017 when the trial court – the Federal High Court in Abuja -granted him him bail in April 2017.
At the height ofIthe confrontation between IPOB members and the Nigerian Security forces, Mr Kanu’s home in Afara Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State came under a heavy attack.
In the aftermath of the attack, Mr Kanu fled Nigeria while on bail.
On 20 September 2017, the Nigerian government designated IPOB as a terrorist organisation.
The Nigerian government captured Mr Kanu in Kenya in June 2021 and brought him to Nigeria to continue his trial from detention.
However, the group has continued its violent campaigns while government forces have been unrelenting in its attacks on the group. The organisation, which began as a peaceful organisation until the military began targeting them, has insisted that it is an exercise of their right to self-determination to seek the secession of Biafra as a sovereign nation.
READ ALSO: UPDATED: Pro-Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa arrested in Finland
In November last year, Finnish authorities succumbed to Nigeria’s diplomatic pressure to arrest Mr Ekpa, the self-styled leader if BRIGIE, and four others on suspicion of terrorist activities.
The Finnish police said they suspected that Mr Ekpa “has contributed to violence and crimes against civilians in South-eastern Nigeria.”
There are ongoing legal proceedings in Finland against Mr Ekpa and co-suspects.
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