The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has identified a growing crowdfunding scheme that foreign-based actors are using to raise money and funnel it to terrorist operatives in Nigeria, according to the agency's 2025 Annual Report. The report, obtained from a top official, describes how facilitators based abroad run social media campaigns that present themselves as humanitarian or educational initiatives.
Crowdfunding Tactics and Encryption
As reported by The Punch, they then use encrypted platforms such as Telegram and Signal to distribute links to PayPal pages and conventional bank accounts. Hundreds of sympathisers are then encouraged to contribute between $50 and $500 each — amounts deliberately kept small to avoid triggering automated anti-money laundering alerts.
Once enough contributions accumulate in a "master account" controlled by a senior member of the group living legally abroad, the funds are broken into dozens of smaller transfers and sent through International Money Transfer Operators and remittance applications to a network of money mules in Nigeria. The report identified students, small-business owners and relatives as those being used in this capacity.
Integration and Disguise Methods
Upon receipt, the funds were either converted to cash, spent on dual-use items such as motorcycles, fertilisers and satellite internet equipment, or moved through mobile banking channels to logistics managers and field operatives — what the NFIU described as the final "integration" stage of terrorist financing.
The report also flagged the growing use of bank accounts opened in women's names, with male commanders and logistics managers secretly controlling them. According to Vanguard, NFIU said wives, sisters and female associates are used as fronts, with the men retaining ATM cards, mobile banking credentials and PINs, while the women are often unaware of the transactions taking place.
Ghost SIMs and Coded Transactions
In addition, terrorist facilitators were found to be using phone numbers not registered to the actual account holders for mobile banking alerts, including SIM cards pre-registered by third parties, SIMs belonging to deceased persons, and numbers tied to gender-based proxies. The NFIU said this approach severs the link between bank accounts, SIM cards and Bank Verification Numbers, allowing real facilitators to remain anonymous when transactions are flagged.
The agency also found that cells linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province routinely used precise, professional-sounding transaction descriptions to maintain what it called an internal accounting system, while other facilitators relied on coded language and alphanumeric strings, sometimes switching between languages, to evade automated keyword filters used by banks.
Experts Demand Stronger Oversight
Security expert Chidi Omeje said Nigerian security and financial intelligence institutions must sharpen their operational strategies. "Every single day, these guys grow in sophistication and desperation, and we must also devise means to bring them to their knees." He urged the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services and financial regulators to follow the money trail more aggressively.
Security analyst Lawrence Alobi pressed agencies to deepen cooperation with banks, warning that any financial institution found to have aided illicit activity should face sanctions. "The banks themselves must sit up and ensure they properly verify every individual's identity so that there is a real, verifiable person behind every account, not just someone acting by proxy."
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that the United States Secretary of State designated four countries as state sponsors of terrorism under long-standing legal authorities. These designations carry strict sanctions, including bans on defence exports, restrictions on foreign assistance, and controls on sensitive trade. Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria remain on the list, each added on different dates spanning from 1979 to 2021.
