The United States has taken a strong action against some Nigerians over the Boko Haram terrorist group The affected Nigerians named in a statement released on Friday, March 25, were added to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons for sponsoring Boko Haram In 2020, the listed Nigerians, six of them, had been prosecuted and convicted in the United Arab Emirates’
Six Nigerians earlier convicted in the UAE have been blacklisted by the United States.
The listed the individuals are Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added the affected Nigerians to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons, “having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Boko Haram.”
This was contained in a statement released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday, March 25, 2022.
It reads in part, “Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated a network of six individuals connected to Nigeria-based terrorist group, Boko Haram. All six were found guilty of establishing a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates to raise funds for and provide material assistance to Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.
“OFAC’s action follows arrests, prosecutions, and designations in the UAE in September 2021, demonstrating the commitment of the Emirati government to using judicial measures and targeted financial sanctions to disrupt the flow of funds to these networks.”
By this action, the U.S. has joined the UAE in targeting terrorist financing network of mutual concern, the statement credited Brian Nelson, the US Secretary of the Treasury, to has sai.
“Treasury continues to target financial facilitators of terrorist activity worldwide. We welcome multilateral action on this Boko Haram network to ensure that it is not able to move any further funds through the international financial system,” he said.
OFAC said its designation of the six Nigerians was pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which centered on terrorists, leaders, and officials of terrorist groups, and anybody rendering support to terrorists of act of terrorism.
“The U.S. Department of State designated Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on November 14, 2013,” it added.