The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has included eight Nigerian nationals in its latest sanctions publication, freezing any property or interests they hold within U.S. jurisdiction and banning most financial dealings with U.S. persons.
The move is part of a sweeping update to the U.S. sanctions lists running over 3,000 pages that identify individuals and entities targeted under various OFAC programmes, including those related to counter-terrorism and cybercrime. The document serves as a formal reference tool to notify the public and financial institutions of updated sanctions designations.
OFAC’s publication named the following Nigerians, citing alleged links to extremist groups and cyber-related offences:
• Salih Yusuf Adamu (aka Salihu Yusuf): linked to fundraising for Boko Haram; previously among Nigerians convicted in the United Arab Emirates for attempting to move funds to support the group.
• Babestan Oluwole Ademulero (aliases include Wole A. Babestan, Olatunde Irewole Shofeso): sanctioned under terrorism-related provisions.
• Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi (aka Ba Idrisa): designated for terrorist affiliation.
• Abu Musab Al-Barnawi (aka Habib Yusuf): identified as a Boko Haram leader.
• Khaled/Khalid Al-Barnawi (aliases including Abu Hafsat, Mohammed Usman): linked to Boko Haram activities.
• Ibrahim Ali Alhassan: reportedly resident in the UAE and tied to Boko Haram.
• Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Al-Mainuki (aka Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki): identified as having links to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
• Nnamdi Orson Benson: designated under cybercrime-related sanctions.
Under the sanctions, all U.S.-based assets and interests of these individuals are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
The sanctions were announced amid U.S. concerns about terrorism financing and cyber threats. Boko Haram has long been officially designated by the U.S. as a “foreign terrorist organization,” a status first applied in 2013. The group has been held responsible for numerous deadly attacks across Nigeria and around the Lake Chad Basin.
The sanction actions align with Executive Order 13224, a longstanding U.S. legal authority used to block property and prohibit transactions involving persons who commit or support acts of terrorism.
This update also comes at a time when U.S. lawmakers have debated additional visa restrictions and sanctions targeting other Nigerian figures and groups over alleged human rights abuses and religious persecution — though those measures remain separate proposals under congressional consideration.
While the full OFAC publication (listing all new designations) is publicly available in OFAC’s sanctions database and can be searched via the SDN/blocked persons list service, the Treasury’s official press releases have not (as of now) included a dedicated press announcement specifically for these Nigerian designations on the department’s website.
