The United States has imposed sanctions and frozen the assets of eight Nigerians accused of having links to extremist groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to an official sanctions document released by US authorities.
Details of the action were contained in a 3,000-page document dated February 10 and published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the US Treasury Department. The sanctions list, sighted on Monday, also identified individuals penalised for cybercrime-related offences and other security threats.
The move comes shortly after recommendations by the United States Congress calling for visa bans and asset freezes against persons and groups accused of violating religious freedom and persecuting Christians in Nigeria.
Among those listed is Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, born August 23, 1990. US authorities linked him to Boko Haram and said he holds a Nigerian passport. He was one of six Nigerians convicted in 2022 in the United Arab Emirates for setting up a Boko Haram cell to raise funds for insurgents. The group was found guilty of attempting to transfer $782,000 from Dubai to Nigeria.
Also designated is Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, born March 4, 1953, who was sanctioned under counterterrorism provisions. He was listed with multiple aliases, including Wole A. Babestan and Olatunde Irewole Shofeso.
Another individual named is Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi, also known as Ba Idrisa, reportedly born between 1989 and 1994 in Maiduguri, Borno State, and flagged under terrorism-related sanctions.
The document further listed Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, also referred to as Habib Yusuf, with reported birth years between 1990 and 1995, identifying him as a Boko Haram leader sanctioned under terrorism regulations.
