The US government has imposed sanctions on Amusement Park, a supermarket in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory and three individuals resident in Nigeria believed to be members of Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The three individuals, Mustapha Fawaz, Fouzi Fawaz and Abdallah Tahini, all born in Lebanon, are accused of being part of the group’s “Foreign Relations Department (FRD)” in Abuja.
In 2013, the three of them were part of a four man group arrested by Nigerian authorities and accused of working with Hezbollah after they uncovered an armory in Kano, which they claimed belonged to the organisation.
The weapons were allegedly intended to be used in an attack against “Israeli and western interests.
Acting Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Adam J. Szubin vowed that the US ” will track Hezbollah’s illicit activities to all corners of the earth.
“Together with our international partners, we are tirelessly working to dismantle Hezbollah’s financial apparatus. Wherever this terrorist group may seek to raise funds, we will target and expose its activity,” he said.
The Fawaz brothers, who have citizenship in Lebanon, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, own Amigo Supermarket and Wonderland Amusement Park and Resort in Abuja.
The statement announcing U.S. sanctions said the Fawaz brothers are really running a Hezbollah front.
“The FRD [Foreign Relations Department of Hezbollah] claims to be in charge of “community relations;” but the primary goal of the FRD in Nigeria is to scout recruits for Hezbollah’s military units, as well as to create and support Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure for its operational units in Africa and globally.”
All three men were accused of working with the FRD. Tahini’s responsibilities included, according to the U.S. Treasury, recruiting and supporting Hezbollah’s African networks.
The US Treasury statement, however, did not mention any link or conflict between the Shiite Hezbollah Branch and the Boko Haram, which is most active in Nigeria’s northern states, Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon.
Hezbollah has operated in at least 45 nations, 11 of which are in Africa.
The group has been designated a terrorist group by the US, while the European Union and the United Nations consider only the group’s armed wing, not its political branch, a terrorist organisation.
It is also considered to be one of the richest groups on the US terrorist list, with an estimated $500 million in financial assets.
