The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has uncovered emerging methods allegedly being used by terrorist financiers to move and conceal funds, including the use of women’s bank accounts, disconnected phone numbers, coded transaction descriptions and crowdfunding platforms.
The findings are contained in the NFIU’s 2025 Annual Report, which highlights the evolving financial networks supporting terrorist activities in Nigeria.
According to the report, male terrorist commanders and logistics managers sometimes control bank accounts registered in the names of their wives, sisters and other female associates.
The NFIU said the accounts can be used to distance the actual operators from illicit funds, while some of the women whose accounts are used may have no knowledge of the transactions.
The agency also identified the use of pre-registered SIM cards, phone numbers registered to deceased persons and telephone lines belonging to other individuals to facilitate mobile banking and transaction alerts.
According to the NFIU, such practices make it harder for investigators to establish links between telephone numbers and Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), thereby complicating financial investigations.
The report further revealed that terrorist cells, including those linked to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), allegedly use coded or seemingly harmless descriptions for financial transactions in an attempt to conceal the true purpose of payments.
The codes may reportedly include alphanumeric combinations, secret phrases or different languages designed to evade automated banking systems that screen transactions for suspicious activity.
The NFIU also highlighted the growing use of crowdfunding platforms and social media.
According to the report, foreign-based facilitators may present fundraising campaigns as humanitarian or educational appeals, attracting hundreds of relatively small donations.
The funds can then allegedly be consolidated and transferred through international money-transfer operators and remittance applications to networks of money mules in Nigeria.
The agency said students, small-business owners and relatives may be used as intermediaries to receive the funds, which could subsequently be converted to cash, used to purchase dual-use items or transferred to terrorist logistics managers and field operatives.
The NFIU said the findings demonstrate the increasing sophistication of terrorist financing networks and the challenges posed by the exploitation of legitimate banking, telecommunications and digital fundraising systems to support insurgent operations.