The federal government has reportedly named Tukur Mamu, publisher of Desert Herald, as one of the suspects involved in terrorism financing.
Mamu was listed among 15 entities, including nine individuals and six Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and firms, per Punch.
Punch cited a document from the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) titled “Designation of Individuals and Entities for March 18, 2024”. According to the document, the Nigeria Sanctions Committee met on March 18 where the named entities were recommended for sanctions following their involvement in terrorism financing.
The NFIU said Mamu “participated in the financing of terrorism by receiving and delivering ransom payments, over the sum of $200,000, in support of ISWAP terrorists for the release of hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack”.
Mamu is currently being tried by the federal government for allegedly aiding the terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train in March 2022. After he was arrested in 2022, the government said it had found $300,000 in his possession.
The money was tagged as “terrorist funds”.
Mamu who is a media aide to Ahmad Gumi, a popular Islamic cleric, has also been accused of exchanging voice notes relating to the Abuja-Kaduna train hostages with one Baba Adamu, a Boko Haram spokesperson.
The publisher has denied any allegiance to terrorists. The NFIU said one of the terrorism financiers is “the suspected attacker of the St. Francis Catholic Church Owo, Ondo State on June 5, 2022 and the Kuje Correctional Center, Abuja on July 5, 2022″.
