The United States has frozen the assets and properties of eight Nigerians alleged to have ties with Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The announcement came via a 3,000-page document released over the weekend by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which also identified individuals sanctioned for cybercrime and other security threats. The action follows recent US Congress recommendations to impose visa bans and asset freezes on former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and various Miyetti Allah groups over alleged attacks on Christians in Nigeria.
OFAC said the publication provides notice of actions against Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs), whose property and interests within US jurisdiction are blocked, and warns US persons against engaging in transactions with them.
Among the Nigerians listed is Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, who was previously convicted in the UAE in 2022 for setting up a Boko Haram cell to raise $782,000 for fighters in Nigeria. Other designated individuals include Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi, Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, Khaled/Khalid Al-Barnawi, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Al-Mainuki, and Nnamdi Orson Benson, some linked to terrorism financing and others to cybercrime.
The sanctions block all property and interests of these individuals in the US and prevent any transactions with US persons under Executive Order 13224.
The move underscores Washington’s continued commitment to countering terrorism financing and cyber threats. Boko Haram, officially designated a “foreign terrorist group” by the US in 2013, has been responsible for numerous attacks in northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, killing thousands since 2009.
