The United States has frozen the assets and properties of eight Nigerians accused of having links with Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The action was detailed in a more than 3,000-page document released over the weekend by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which also listed individuals sanctioned for cybercrime and other security threats.
According to OFAC, the publication provides official notice of actions taken against Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) whose property and interests are blocked under U.S. counter-terrorism and sanctions programmes.
Among those listed is Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, born August 23, 1990. He was identified as having ties to Boko Haram and was previously convicted in the United Arab Emirates for helping establish a fundraising cell. In 2022, he was among six Nigerians found guilty of attempting to send $782,000 from Dubai to fighters in Nigeria.
Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, born March 4, 1953, was also designated under terrorism sanctions and appeared under multiple aliases.
Also listed was Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi, known as Ba Idrisa, alongside Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, also referred to as Habib Yusuf, who was identified as a Boko Haram leader.
Khaled Al-Barnawi, linked to Boko Haram and known by aliases including Abu Hafsat and Mohammed Usman, was listed twice under different spellings.
Another Nigerian, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, born January 31, 1981, and reportedly resident in Abu Dhabi, was also linked to Boko Haram.
Additionally, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Al-Mainuki, also known as Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, was designated for alleged ties to ISIL, while Nnamdi Orson Benson, born March 21, 1987, was sanctioned under cyber-related provisions.
Under the sanctions, all property and interests belonging to the individuals within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
The designations were made pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorism financing networks. The U.S. designated Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization in 2013, citing thousands of deaths across northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin since 2009.
The sanctions framework is guided by U.S. laws including Section 1754(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act (2019), Section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
