Nigeria confronts black money of extremist movements
The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) issued a report on combating the financing of terrorism in 2022, indicating that some money and currency transfer outlets are suspiciously used to pass black money to extremist movements, along with bank accounts that are used in that process as well. The report recommended imposing more strict measures to undermine attempts to exploit the country as a a link for terrorist financing.
In November 2022, NFIU published its annual report on combating money laundering and combating the financing and proliferation of terrorism, prepared by a national inter-ministerial risk assessment committee on financing terrorist organizations and the proliferation of weapons and explosives.
NFIU indicated that the country needs to address multiple deficiencies that threaten to undermine terrorist financing, most notably electronic transactions that take place through unmonitored internet networks, as well as the new methods used by terrorists such as prepaid cards and other financial systems that need more monitoring.
The national body Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is an independent financial intelligence unit located within the Central Bank of Nigeria and is responsible for receiving reports made on anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism.
Shady money flow and terrorism industry
Money is one of the main pillars of the continued spread of terrorist groups, as extremists depend on the suspicious money flowing in to finance the purchase of weapons and logistical needs and to pay the salaries of mercenaries. Not all those who join terrorist organizations are convinced of the ideologies of extremism, but they join to achieve material profit that is otherwise difficult to achieve in light of the deteriorating economic conditions in some countries.
Soft financial systems constitute a weak link in the circle of combating terrorist financing because they do not rely on sophisticated strategies to undermine the flow of suspicious funds, and therefore international terrorist organizations consider them favorable opportunities to achieve their goals in delivering funds to their business network spread in some international locations.
Risks of money laundering in Nigeria to the security of West Africa
The flow of suspicious money in Nigeria represents a high risk to the level of security in West Africa in general as ISIS spreads in the region, threatening its stability. Over the past few years, the terrorist organization managed to establish a branch in Nigeria, known as Boko Haram, which ISIS employs in order to extend its influence in West Africa in general.
Thus, the presence of money with high flow rates in Nigeria threatens security at various levels, as the national economy is affected by suspicious funds interfering in its system, because the government does not know the sources of its injection and spending, in addition to the fact that these negative effects harm foreign investments that are afraid of pumping money into unsafe economic environments, as well as fears of depleting the state's capabilities, taking advantage of weak oversight capabilities.
ISIS and the consequences of violence
ISIS relies on its Nigerian branch, Boko Haram, to expand its influence in the region and compete with al-Qaeda's attempts to build new states in African countries, some of which suffer from political and security unrest.
The terrorist organization is carrying out major operations in Nigeria to use in media to promote its presence in the region, and it is also using them to recruit more elements to its ranks. On November 29, the organization massacred no less than 43 agricultural workers in the Maiduguri region in the northeast of the country.
