The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has uncovered increasingly sophisticated methods allegedly being employed by terrorist financiers to disguise, move and channel funds for insurgent activities in Nigeria.
The agency, in its 2025 Annual Report, identified several emerging techniques, including the use of bank accounts belonging to women, inactive or improperly linked phone numbers, coded transaction descriptions and online crowdfunding campaigns disguised as legitimate humanitarian or educational appeals.
According to the report, some male terrorist commanders and logistics handlers allegedly operate accounts registered in the names of their wives, sisters and other female associates. The arrangement, the NFIU said, can make it difficult for investigators to establish the real beneficiaries of suspicious transactions.
In some cases, the account holders may reportedly have little or no knowledge of the activities being carried out through their accounts.
The financial intelligence agency also raised concerns over the alleged use of pre-registered SIM cards, telephone numbers registered to deceased persons and lines belonging to third parties.
Such practices, it said, are sometimes exploited to facilitate mobile banking transactions and receive account alerts while weakening the connection between a customer’s telephone identity and their Bank Verification Number (BVN).
The development, according to the NFIU, creates additional challenges for financial investigators attempting to trace the movement of illicit funds.
The report further revealed that terrorist networks, including cells associated with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), allegedly employ coded descriptions to conceal the true purpose of financial transactions.
Instead of openly identifying the nature of payments, facilitators may reportedly use seemingly harmless words, alphanumeric combinations, secret codes or different languages in transaction descriptions.
The tactic is believed to be aimed at making suspicious payments less obvious to automated banking systems and financial institutions monitoring transactions linked to terrorism financing.
Another method highlighted by the NFIU involves the alleged exploitation of crowdfunding platforms and social media.
According to the report, individuals operating from outside Nigeria may create online campaigns presented as humanitarian, educational or welfare appeals. The campaigns can attract contributions from large numbers of donors, with relatively small payments eventually pooled together.
The funds may then allegedly be moved through international money-transfer companies and remittance applications before reaching Nigerian-based intermediaries or money mules.
The NFIU said students, small-business operators and relatives may sometimes be used as intermediaries in the process.
Once received, the funds could allegedly be converted into cash, used to acquire items with both legitimate and illicit applications, or transferred onward to terrorist logistics coordinators and field operatives.
The findings highlight the growing sophistication of terrorist financing networks and the increasing exploitation of legitimate financial, telecommunications and digital platforms to support violent extremist activities.
The NFIU’s assessment underscores the need for stronger cooperation among banks, telecommunications companies, digital fundraising platforms, law-enforcement agencies and financial intelligence authorities to detect suspicious financial activities before they reach terrorist networks.
Source:@ZagazolaMakama
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