The United States has frozen the assets and properties of eight Nigerians over alleged links to Boko Haram, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and cybercrime activities.
The sanctions were announced in a document released by the US Department of the Treasury through its Office of Foreign Assets Control.
It detailed actions against Specially Designated Nationals whose assets and interests are blocked under US counter-terrorism measures.
According to OFAC, “This publication of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is designed as a reference tool providing actual notice of actions by OFAC with respect to Specially Designated Nationals and other persons whose property is blocked, to assist the public in complying with the various sanctions programmes administered by OFAC.”
Among those listed is Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, who was previously convicted in the United Arab Emirates for setting up a Boko Haram cell to raise funds for fighters in Nigeria.
Court documents showed that six Nigerians were found guilty in 2022 of attempting to transfer $782,000 from Dubai to Nigeria.
Others designated include Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, identified under terrorism sanctions; Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi, also known as Ba Idrisa; Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, also referred to as Habib Yusuf; Khaled Al-Barnawi, also known as Abu Hafsat and Mohammed Usman; Ibrahim Ali Alhassan; Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Al-Mainuki, linked to ISIL; and Nnamdi Orson Benson, listed under cyber-related sanctions.
Meanwhile, the sanctions mean all property and interests of the individuals within US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them under Executive Order 13224.
The US formally designated Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organisation in 2013.
According to the US State Department, the group is “responsible for numerous attacks in the northern and northeastern regions of the country, as well as in the Lake Chad Basin in Cameroon, Chad and Niger that have killed thousands of people since 2009.”
