The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, and the African Union Counter-Terrorism Centre have raised the alarm over the growing use of social media, cryptocurrencies and emerging technologies by terrorist groups to recruit members, finance operations and coordinate attacks across West Africa and the Sahel.
They issued the warning on Tuesday in Abuja at a three-day regional training conference focused on detecting and disrupting terrorists’ exploitation of information and communication technologies and emerging technologies.
The Acting Director of the AU Counter-Terrorism Centre, Idriss Lalalli, said groups such as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Boko Haram and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) were increasingly exploiting digital platforms to expand their reach and strengthen their operational capabilities.
“Across West Africa and the Sahel today, ISWAP, Boko Haram and JNIM are extending their reach through technology. They recruit on social media platforms, move and conceal funds via mobile money, gift cards and cryptocurrencies,” Lalalli said.
He added that the groups were acquiring weapons through darknet marketplaces, communicating through satellite links, deploying drones across borders and using artificial intelligence to customise propaganda and evade detection.
According to him, the speed, affordability and accessibility of digital technologies have enabled terrorist networks to reach wider audiences and operate faster than security agencies can respond.
“What makes this difficult is speed and cost. A cell with a modest budget can now reach audiences far beyond its physical presence and move faster than our procedures can respond. The capability to counter it remains thinly and unevenly distributed across our Member States,” he said.
Lalalli, however, expressed optimism that the capacity gap could be reduced through specialised training, stronger regional coordination and closer collaboration with private-sector stakeholders.
He explained that the training programme would equip participants with practical skills in cyber threat intelligence, open-source intelligence, digital forensics and blockchain analysis.
The skills, he said, would help security personnel identify online recruitment networks, preserve digital evidence and trace cryptocurrency transactions linked to terrorist financing.
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He emphasised that the different areas of expertise must be integrated to strengthen investigations and support successful prosecutions.
The AU official also called for stronger partnerships with social media companies, telecommunications operators and financial service providers, noting that much of the digital infrastructure exploited by terrorist organisations was owned and operated by private entities.
Speaking on behalf of Ribadu, the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, said terrorist groups were using digital platforms to disseminate propaganda, radicalise potential recruits, raise funds and coordinate cross-border operations.
He warned that the growing application of artificial intelligence, drones and virtual assets was introducing additional complexities into the security landscape of Nigeria and other countries in the region.
“Emerging technologies add further complexity: Artificial Intelligence can rapidly produce personalised content; drones and autonomous systems can expand operational capabilities; and virtual assets can create new financing channels. We must therefore strengthen our ability to anticipate, detect, analyse and disrupt threats before they materialise,” he said.
Ribadu stressed that an effective response required more than the acquisition of sophisticated equipment, arguing that investment in technical expertise, institutional capacity and inter-agency cooperation was equally essential.
He also called for stronger cross-border intelligence sharing and the timely exchange of actionable cyber threat information among countries in West Africa and the Sahel.
“Nigeria recognises that no institution, country or sector can defeat terrorism alone,” he said.
The NSA further disclosed that Nigeria was collaborating with the AU Counter-Terrorism Centre to secure accreditation for the NCTC as a regional centre of excellence for counterterrorism in West Africa and the Sahel.
According to him, the initiative followed President Bola Tinubu’s declaration at the High-Level Africa Counterterrorism Summit held in April 2024.
The three-day conference attracted participants from West Africa and the Sahel, as well as representatives of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Multinational Joint Task Force, regional intelligence structures and international organisations.
The meeting is expected to strengthen regional capacities to identify, investigate and disrupt the exploitation of digital technologies by terrorist networks
