The United States government has sanctioned eight Nigerian individuals and frozen their assets after identifying them in a sanctions document as having alleged ties to militant groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as well as cybercrime-related offences, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement.
The sanctions were announced in a 3,000-page document published by OFAC, the division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions.
The list, known as the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, blocks property and interests in property of designated persons within U.S. jurisdiction and generally prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with them.
OFAC sanctions are part of broader counterterrorism and law enforcement efforts by the United States aimed at disrupting financial networks linked to terrorist activities and other security threats.
The document lists multiple individuals whose assets and property interests have been frozen under U.S. sanctions programmes.
Among the Nigerians included are those alleged to have associations with Boko Haram, a group designated by the U.S. as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and with ISIL, another designated terrorist group.
One individual named is Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, who carries a Nigerian passport and is identified in the document as having ties to Boko Haram.
Another listed person is Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, born on March 4, 1953, who is identified under the sanctions list with various aliases.
The list also names other individuals connected with Boko Haram leadership and activities, including Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi, Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, Khaled/Khalid Al-Barnawi, and Ibrahim Ali Alhassan.
Additionally, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Al-Mainuki and Nnamdi Orson Benson are included on the list, with Benson reportedly designated under cybercrime-related provisions.
Designation under the SDN list means that any property or interests in property of the named individuals that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked.
U.S. persons generally are prohibited from engaging in transactions with sanctioned individuals, and secondary sanctions provisions may apply to non-U.S. persons who facilitate certain significant transactions involving designated parties.
The sanctions target alleged links to terrorism-related financing activities and cybercrime, reflecting continued U.S. efforts to counter threats posed by militant groups and high-level criminal networks.
