The United States has frozen the assets and properties of eight Nigerians accused of connections with the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The action also included individuals involved in cybercrime and other security threats.
The announcement came through a 3,000-page document released over the weekend by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The document lists individuals and entities whose property and interests have been blocked to prevent financial dealings with them. It is intended as a guide for the public and businesses to comply with US sanctions.
Among those sanctioned is Salih Yusuf Adamu, born August 23, 1990, in Nigeria, who is believed to have ties with Boko Haram.
Yusuf, along with five other Nigerians, was convicted in 2022 in the United Arab Emirates for establishing a Boko Haram cell to raise funds for the group.
The men attempted to transfer $782,000 from Dubai to Nigeria to support Boko Haram operations.
Another individual, Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, born March 4, 1953, appeared under multiple aliases and was sanctioned under terrorism-related provisions.
The list also includes Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi, known as Ba Idrisa, and Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, also called Habib Yusuf, both identified as Boko Haram leaders. Khaled (or Khalid) Al-Barnawi, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, and Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Al-Mainuki, linked to Boko Haram and ISIL, were also listed.
One person, Nnamdi Orson Benson, born March 21, 1987, was sanctioned for cybercrime activities. All listed individuals have their property and interests in the US blocked, and Americans are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
The sanctions fall under Executive Order 13224, which targets individuals and organizations associated with terrorism. Boko Haram was officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US in 2013.
The group has been responsible for attacks in northern Nigeria and across the Lake Chad Basin in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, causing thousands of deaths since 2009.
