Okay News reports that the United States has frozen the assets and properties of eight Nigerians accused of links to Boko Haram, the Nigeria-based Islamist armed group, as well as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and alleged cybercrime activity.
The names were contained in a 3,000-page document dated Tuesday, February 10, 2026, released by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and seen on Monday, February 16, 2026, at 10:44 in the morning West African Time (WAT, GMT+1). The publication also identified individuals sanctioned over cybercrime-related offences and other security threats.
The development followed recent recommendations in the United States Congress for visa bans and asset freezes on people and groups accused of violating religious freedom and persecuting Christians in Nigeria. Those recommended by United States lawmakers included a former Governor of Kano State in northern Nigeria, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as well as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and Miyetti Allah Kautal, groups linked to pastoral and cattle-breeding interests in Nigeria.
OFAC said the publication, titled “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List,” is a reference tool that details individuals of different nationalities and entities whose assets have been frozen, and provides public notice of actions taken against Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs). SDNs are people and organisations whose property and interests are blocked as part of United States sanctions and counter-terrorism efforts.
“This publication of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control 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 the Nigerians listed was Salih Yusuf Adamu, also known as Salihu Yusuf, who was born on Thursday, August 23, 1990, in Nigeria and was identified as having ties to Boko Haram. The document said he was reported to hold a Nigerian passport. The publication also referenced a case in which Yusuf was among six Nigerians convicted in 2022 for setting up a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise funds for insurgents in Nigeria. The six men were convicted in the UAE for attempting to send $782,000 from Dubai in the UAE to Nigeria.
Another Nigerian listed was Babestan Oluwole Ademulero, born on Wednesday, March 4, 1953, in Nigeria, who was designated under SDNTK sanctions. He was listed with several aliases, including Wole A. Babestan and Olatunde Irewole Shofeso.
OFAC also listed Abu Abdullah ibn Umar Al-Barnawi, also known as Ba Idrisa, who was reportedly born between 1989 and 1994 in Maiduguri, a city in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria, and was flagged under terrorism-related sanctions. Another name on the list was Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, also referred to as Habib Yusuf, whose birth year was listed as between 1990 and 1995. He was identified as a Boko Haram leader and sanctioned under terrorism provisions.
Khaled, also spelled Khalid, Al-Barnawi appeared twice in the publication. He was born in 1976 in Maiduguri, Nigeria, was linked to Boko Haram, and was listed under several aliases, including Abu Hafsat and Mohammed Usman.
Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, born on Saturday, January 31, 1981, in Nigeria, was listed with a Nigerian passport and was reported to reside in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. He was also linked to Boko Haram.
Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Mainuki, also known as Abu-Bilal Al-Minuki, was born in 1982 in Mainok, a community in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria, and was identified as having ties to ISIL.
The eighth Nigerian on the list was Nnamdi Orson Benson, born on Saturday, March 21, 1987, in Nigeria, who was listed under CYBER2 sanctions and was also reported to hold a Nigerian passport.
OFAC said the sanctions block all property and interests of the listed individuals within United States jurisdiction, and United States persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Nigerians listed under the United States Department of the Treasury sanctions face asset freezes under Executive Order 13224, a key United States counter-terrorism sanctions authority.
The United States officially designated Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organisation in 2013. The United States Department of State has said the group is responsible for attacks in northern and northeastern Nigeria and in the wider Lake Chad Basin, including parts of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, that have killed thousands of people since 2009.
Separately, the United States Secretary of State determines countries that have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. Such countries are 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.
In October 2025, for the second time, United States President Donald Trump announced that Nigeria would be added to the United States Department of State’s list of “Countries of Particular Concern.” Trump, in a post on X, explained that Nigeria would be placed on a religious freedom watchlist, alleging that Christians were facing persecution and being killed by Muslims.
Nigeria was first designated as a Country of Particular Concern in 2020 under President Trump, but former President Joe Biden removed Nigeria from the list shortly after assuming office.
