Crime

World’s police in technological arms race with Nigerian mafia

Nigeria is… major recruitment ground for Black Axe

Published

2 years ago

August 28, 2024

OCHEFA

729 Views

BBC)
Police units around the world have joined forces in a series of covert operations targeting one of West Africa’s most feared criminal networks – Black Axe.

Operation Jackal III saw officers in body armour carry out raids in 21 countries between April and July 2024.

The mission, co-ordinated by global policing agency Interpol, led to the arrest of 300 people with links to Black Axe and other affiliated groups.

Interpol called the operation a “major blow” to the Nigerian crime network, but warned that its international reach and technological sophistication mean it remains a global threat.

In one notorious example, Canadian authorities said they had busted a money-laundering scheme linked to Black Axe worth more than $5bn (£3.8bn) in 2017.

“They are very organised and very structured,” Tomonobu Kaya, a senior official at Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, told the BBC.

According to a 2022 report by Interpol, “Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud as well as many other serious crimes”.

Mr Kaya said innovations in money-transfer software and cryptocurrency have played into the hands of group, which are renowned for multi-million dollar online scams.

“These criminal syndicates are early adopters of new technologies… A lot of fintech developments make it really easy to illegally move money around the world,” he said.

Operation Jackal III was years in the making and led to the seizure of $3m of illegal assets and more than 700 bank accounts being frozen.

Many Black Axe members are university educated and are recruited during their schooling.

The organisation is a secretive criminal network with trafficking, prostitution and killing operations around the world.

Cyber-crime, targeting individuals and businesses, is the organisation’s largest source of revenue.

Multiple so-called “Jackal” police operations have taken place since 2022.

Dozens of Black Axe and other gang members have been arrested and their electronic devices seized during these transnational raids.

This work has enabled Interpol to create a vast intelligence database, which is now shared with officers throughout its 196 member countries.

“We need to have data and to collate our findings from these countries to help build a picture of their modus operandi,” said Mr Kaya.
Despite multiple international arrests, some experts feel not enough is being done to address the root of these crime syndicates in West Africa.

“The emphasis must actually be on prevention not on outright operations against these criminal groups,” said Dr Oluwole Ojewale, West Africa Regional Co-ordinator from the Institute for Security Studies.

Nigeria, which has witnessed widespread anti-corruption protests in recent weeks, is one of Africa’s largest economies, but has as many as 87 million people living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. It is also the main recruitment ground for Black Axe.

Interpol said it was carrying out training exercises with key Nigerian stakeholders and police officials. But corruption, and allegations of collusion between Black Axe and local authorities, remain major obstacles.

“It is the politicians who are actually arming these boys,” said Dr Ojewale. “The general failure of governance in the country has made pressures for people to be initiated [into Black Axe].”

Despite its current global reach, Interpol’s Jackal Operations have their origins in Ireland.

Following a series of police raids by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) in 2020, a handful of Black Axe members were arrested, paving the way for the exposure of a far wider network.

“They were very under the radar, very low-key,” said Michael Cryan, detective superintendent at the GNECB, which led the operation.

“The amount of money being laundered through Ireland was astronomical,” he added.

The police subsequently identified 1,000 people with links to Black Axe in Ireland and have made hundreds of arrests for fraud and cyber-crime.

“Bank robberies are now done with laptops – they’re far more sophisticated,” said Det Supt Cryan.

He estimates €200m ($220m; £170m) have been stolen online in Ireland in the past five years, and that only accounts for the 20% of cyber-crimes that are believed to be reported.

“This is not typical or ordinary crime… People who make decisions need to know how serious this is,” he said.

Irish police operations in November 2023 revealed that cryptocurrency – which can be sent rapidly between digital wallets around the world – is becoming an integral element in Black Axe’s money-laundering operations.

More than €1m in crypto-assets were seized during one operation.

Interpol has deployed its own new technology in an attempt to tackle these innovations, launching the Global Rapid Intervention of Payments system (I-GRIP).

The mechanism, which enables the authorities in member countries to freeze bank accounts around the world with unprecedented speed, was used to halt a $40m scam targeting a Singaporean business last month.

Interpol’s Mr Kaya said technology like this would make it harder for criminals to move money across borders with impunity.

A major effort is under way to gather and share intelligence on Black Axe and other West African syndicates by police around the world.

“If we can gather this data we can take action,” he said.

Related Topics:Black Axe Cyber-crime INTERPOL Nigeria police

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Crime

BREAKING: Court Grants Sowore N200 Million Bail, With Fresh Conditions

Published

4 days ago

June 30, 2026

Charles Flames

65 Views

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday granted bail to online publisher and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, but imposed stringent fresh conditions for his release.

Justice Umar Mohammed ruled that Sowore must provide two sureties, each executing a ₦200 million bail bond. One of the sureties must be a traditional ruler from Sowore’s community in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, while the second surety must own landed property within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Sowore is also required to surrender his international passport to the court’s deputy registrar for safekeeping. The court further directed that both sureties must be verified by counsel to the prosecution, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN.

The ruling comes after Sowore’s absence from court proceedings. On June 16, 2026, Justice Umar revoked the self-recognisance bail earlier granted to Sowore in December and issued a bench warrant for his arrest over allegations of cybercrime and criminal defamation.

Last Tuesday, the judge ordered that Sowore be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the determination of his motion seeking a stay of execution of the revocation order and bench warrant. The court also dismissed Sowore’s application requesting that the judge recuse himself from the trial on grounds of alleged bias.

The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting Sowore over alleged criminal defamation stemming from social media posts on his official X and Facebook accounts in which he reportedly referred to President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”

Sowore’s lead counsel, R.O. Adakole, appealed to the court to release his client to him temporarily to enable the retrieval of Sowore’s passport from the US Embassy in Lagos.

Justice Umar adjourned the matter to July 6, 2026, for the continuation of hearing.

Crime

Lagos NSCDC Parades Five Suspected Vandals, Two Foreigners From Togo

Published

4 days ago

June 30, 2026

Charles Flames

69 Views

.….As Army recovers stolen armoured cables, other Exhibits.

The State Commandant , Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC ), Lagos State Command , Mr Adedotun Keshinro , fnarc, today, Monday, 29th June , 2026 has paraded seven ( 7 ) male suspects between the ages of twenty seven ( 27 ) years to forty four ( 44 ) years old involved in various forms of crimes ranging from vandalism of critical national assets and infrastructure such as ; armoured cables , transformer cables , stealing of eight ( 8 ) lithium batteries and RRU inverter, which occured at various locations in the state .

Other suspects paraded today, include three ( 3 ) Togolese, male, aged 32 and 27 each, who deserted the Togolese Army and were apprehended around the Badagry axis of Lagos State .

While briefing the media, today, Monday, at the State Command’s Headquarters in Alausa, the Lagos State Commandant, said that following consistent community engagements with stakeholders in the state, the Command received credible intelligence through the Okun Ajah Community and Proton Security Ltd and responded swiftly leading to the arrest of two ( 2 ) male suspects at 1451HRS, on Saturday, 27th June , 2026 involved in the vandalism of MTN armoured cables.

The vandalized armoured cables were recovered with a shuttle bus popularly known as korepe with the plate number MUS109YH ( Benue State ).

The Command is still on the trail of 2 suspects, who are currently at large but connected to the vandalism of the armoured cables worth millions of Naira and will not rest on its oarse until they are also apprehended, prosecuted and convicted through the instrumentality of the court if found culpable.

In the ongoing efforts of the Command to take out vandals off the state, on Friday , 26th June , 2026, another male suspect was arrested by the Command’s operatives in Sogunle for vandalizing transformer cables .

Also another male suspect was apprehended at 1600HRS on Saturday, 15th June, 2026 for stealing eight ( 8 ) lithium batteries at Orchid road in Lekki . Further Investigation has been launched into the matter to apprehend others who are at large.

The theft of RRU inverter cable by another male suspect, who was arrested on 7th April , 2026 in Banana Island was also established to be currently undergoing prosecution accordingly.

The parade also comprised of three Togolese brothers , who deserted the Togolese Army and were found and apprehended by the Badagry operatives of the Command .

The Command has taken appropriate steps to hand the deserted Togolese Army personnel to the appropriate agency of government for further investigation .

Other suspects arrested by the Badagry operatives of the Command and linked to illegal migration have been handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos State Command for further investigation .

The Lagos State Commandant has once again seized this opportunity to warn vandals to desist from their dastardly act of economic sabotage , which brings harshness, hardness, agony and strain upon the innocent citizens or face the full weight of the law .

Crime

Police arrest 10 suspects over killing of Benue Miyetti Allah’s chairman

The MACBAN chairman and Yakubu Isa were reportedly ambushed and killed at Okudu community in Otukpo LGA on Friday, June 26, 2026 by armed men, while returning from a peace meeting called by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in the Idekpa, Ohimini LGA.

Published

5 days ago

June 28, 2026

OCHEFA

70 Views

The Benue State Police Command has declared that it arrested 10 suspects in connection with the killing of the Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Benue State, Ardo Risku Mohammed, and one Yakubu Isa.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Udeme Edet, confirmed the arrest, emphasing that the arrests marked significant progress in the investigation into the attack.

The suspects were apprehended on the night of June 27, 2026, during a coordinated operation by the Command’s tactical teams in Otukpo Local Government Area, following what police described as intensive intelligence gathering and tactical operations.

According to him, the suspects arrested were 25-year-old Titus Thyodenda, 20-year-old Utibe Sam, 18-year-old Owoicho Ameh, 21-year-old Sunday Useni, 46-year-old Sunday Useni, 46-year-old Sunday Ogbanje, 23-year-old Daniel Raphael, 24-year-old Adokole John, 32-year-old Samuel Ogazi, 25-year-old Agbo Daniel, and 30-year-old Onazi James.