A UGANDAN national identified as Abubakar Swalleh, with alleged terrorist ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) or Al-Qaeda, has been red-flagged by the Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (FIUTT).
The FIUTT has issued a directive ordering all financial institutions in Trinidad and Tobago to freeze bank accounts or assets that may have been directly or indirectly affiliated with Swalleh.
The instructions issued by FIUTT director Nigel Stoddard came on June 17, 2025—the same day that Justice Karen Reid gave an order following an application made by Attorney General John Jeremie on June 11, 2025 for a declaratory order under section 22B of the Anti-Terrorism Act, Chapter 12:07, between the AG and Swalleh.
The matter was later gazetted on June 23, in which Justice Reid indicated that Swalleh, also known as Abubakar Swaleh and Tom Kiyurige, born in Uganda on January 13, 1992, “provides financial, material or technological support for, or financial or other services to, or in support of, ISIL (listed as Al-Qaeda in Iraq).
He has acted since 2018 as an ISIL facilitator who provides financial and logistical support, including recruitment for ISIL in East and Southern Africa.”
