United States has frozen the assets and properties of eight Nigerians accused of having links with Islamic sect – Boko Haram and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL.
The over 3,000 page document released at the weekend by the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, also identified individuals sanctioned for cybercrime-related offences and other security threats.
The pronouncement comes on the heels of the latest US Congress’ recommendations of visa ban and asset freeze on the former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and different Miyetti Allah groups over the alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria.
The document, which detailed individuals from other nationalities and entities whose assets had been frozen, serves as a reference tool, providing notice of actions taken against Specially Designated Nationals, SDNs, whose property and interests were blocked as part of its counter-terrorism efforts.
The move, according to OFAC, was part of its broader efforts to block property and interests of Specially Designated Nationals, SDNs, and prevent financial dealings with them.
“This publication of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, is designed as a reference tool providing actual notice of actions by OFAC with respect to Specially Designated Nationals and other persons (which term includes both individuals and entities) whose property is blocked, to assist the public in complying with the various sanctions programmes administered by OFAC,” the agency said.
Among those listed is Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, born on August 23, 1990, in Nigeria.
Yusuf was identified as having ties with Boko Haram and carried a Nigerian passport.
Yusuf Adamu was among six Nigerians found guilty in 2022 for setting up a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates to raise funds for Haram fighters in Nigeria.
The six men were convicted then in the UAE of attempting to send $782,000 from Dubai to Nigeria.
Another culprit, Babestan Oluwole Ademulero. Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, born on March 4, 1953, in Nigeria,was designated under [SDNTK].
He appeared under several aliases including Wole A. Babestan and Olatunde Irewole Shofeso.
Also designated was Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi Known also as Ba Idrisa. Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi was reported to have been born between 1989 and 1994 in Maiduguri, Borno state. He was flagged under terrorism-related sanctions.
Abu Musab Al-Barnawi Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, also referred to as Habib Yusuf, was listed with varying birth years between 1990 and 1995. He was identified as a Boko Haram leader and sanctioned under terrorism provisions.
Khaled/Khalid Al-Barnawi, whose name (Khaled or Khalid) Al-Barnawi) appeared twice in the publication, was born in 1976 in Maiduguri, Nigeria. He was linked to Boko Haram and carried several aliases including Abu Hafsat and Mohammed Usman.
Ibrahim Ali Alhassan Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, born January 31, 1981, in Nigeria, was listed with a Nigerian passport. He was reported to reside in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and was linked to Boko Haram.
Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Al-Mainuki Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Al-Mainuki, also known as Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, was born in 1982 in Mainok, Borno state.
He was identified as having ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Nnamdi Orson Benson, born March 21, 1987, in Nigeria, was listed under [CYBER2] sanctions. He held a Nigerian passport.
The inclusion of these names in the OFAC list highlighted Washington’s continued focus on countering terrorism financing and cyber threats.
The sanctions meant that all property and interests of these individuals within US jurisdiction were blocked, and US persons were generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
Nigerians on the US Treasury sanctions list face asset freeze under Executive Order 13224.
The US officially designated Boko Haram a “foreign terrorist group” in 2013.
According to the 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.
The United States Secretary of State determines that certain countries had repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.
These countries were designated under three laws: section 1754(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
