The United States has frozen the assets and properties of eight Nigerians accused of having links to Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The action was disclosed in a 3,000-page document dated February 10 and made available by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The publication, titled “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List,” outlines individuals and entities whose assets have been blocked under U.S. counter-terrorism and cybercrime sanctions regimes.
The sanctioned individuals include Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, who was convicted in the United Arab Emirates for setting up a Boko Haram cell to raise funds for insurgents in Nigeria.
Others on the list are Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi, Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, Khaled Al-Barnawi, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Mainuki, and Nnamdi Orson Benson, who was listed under cyber-related sanctions.
The sanctions were issued pursuant to Executive Order 13224, targeting individuals and entities involved in terrorism and its financing.
This move follows recent recommendations by US lawmakers for visa bans and asset freezes against individuals and groups accused of religious freedom violations in Nigeria, including former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
In October 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Nigeria would again be placed on the U.S. State Department’s list of “Countries of Particular Concern,” citing alleged persecution of Christians.
Nigeria was first designated under the category in 2020 but was removed from the list in 2021 under former President Joe Biden.
