US Treasury Freezes Assets of Eight Nigerians Over Alleged Boko Haram, ISIL Links

US Treasury has frozen assets of eight Nigerians over alleged Boko Haram and ISIL Links.

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that 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), according to a newly released sanctions document.

The action was detailed in a February 10 publication by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. The 3,000-page document, titled Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, outlines individuals and entities whose assets have been blocked under US sanctions programmes.

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OFAC said the publication serves as official notice of actions taken against individuals designated as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs), whose property and interests under US jurisdiction are frozen as part of counter-terrorism and security enforcement measures.

Among the Nigerians listed is Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, who was previously convicted in the United Arab Emirates in 2022 alongside five others for establishing a Boko Haram cell to raise funds for insurgents in Nigeria. The group was found guilty of attempting to transfer $782,000 from Dubai to Nigeria.

Other individuals named include Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, designated under terrorism-related sanctions; Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi; Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, identified as a Boko Haram leader; Khaled (Khalid) Al-Barnawi; Ibrahim Ali Alhassan; Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Mainuki, linked to ISIL; and Nnamdi Orson Benson, who was listed under cybercrime-related sanctions.

Under the sanctions, all property and interests belonging to the listed individuals within US jurisdiction are blocked. US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in financial transactions with them. The measures were taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which targets individuals and entities involved in terrorism.

The development follows recent recommendations by members of the US Congress for visa bans and asset freezes on certain Nigerian individuals and groups accused of religious freedom violations and persecution of Christians.

The US formally designated Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2013. According to the US State Department, the group has carried out deadly attacks in Nigeria’s northern and northeastern regions, as well as in parts of the Lake Chad Basin, resulting in thousands of deaths since 2009.

In October 2025, US President Donald Trump announced that Nigeria would again be placed on the US religious freedom watchlist as a “Country of Particular Concern,” citing allegations of persecution. Nigeria had previously been designated under Trump in 2020 before being removed from the list by former President Joe Biden.