Dismantling Nigeria’s Black Axe Criminal Network Remains a Global Challenge

ADF STAFF

A series of undercover “Operation Jackal” investigations have dealt a blow to Nigeria’s notorious Black Axe criminal networks. But authorities warn that the group’s global reach and technological sophistication means much work remains.

Interpol took part in operations targeting Black Axe and other West African organized crime groups across five continents. Police arrested 300 people, seized $3 million and blocked 720 bank accounts, Interpol said in July. In one investigation, Canadian authorities said they had busted a money-laundering scheme linked to Black Axe worth more than $5 billion.

“They are very organized and very structured,” Tomonobu Kaya, a senior official at Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, told the BBC. A 2022 Interpol report said 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.” Kaya told the BBC that innovations in money-transfer software and cryptocurrency have played into the hands of the groups, which are renowned for multimillion-dollar online scams.

In April, German officials arrested 11 suspected Black Axe members in raids. The suspects were accused of using fake identities online to extort money from victims after gaining their trust and promising marriages. The news agency DW reported that the accused were Nigerians who had lived in Germany for many years. Officials said they were focusing especially on “large-scale dating scams and money laundering.” DW reported that in the German region of Bavaria in 2023 alone there were 450 dating scams in which victims lost $5.7 million.

The Black Axe’s worldwide cybercrime network is estimated to be generating billions of dollars. In 2017, Canadian authorities alleged that a money-laundering operation involving the gang was found to have processed more than $5 billion, Mafia News reported. “Members of the organization involved in this operation were allegedly communicating between Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Arab nations throughout the Gulf region and several other countries.”

A Long History

Students formed Black Axe in 1977 on the University of Benin campus in Nigeria’s Edo State. It began with good intentions as a part of the Neo Black Movement, an effort to promote anti-colonialism and pan-African spirit. Over time, the group adopted violence to make its members “strong men,” according to the Neo Black Movement. As Black Axe expanded and its violence increased, it parted ways with the University of Benin.

There are several such “confraternities,” also known as campus cults because of the mystery that surrounds their activities and rituals. Membership in them is now illegal in Nigeria. Black Axe is among the largest, most notorious and widespread. Some reports suggest worldwide membership as high as 30,000. A BBC report indicated that Black Axe is so prevalent in Benin City that some civilians there have formed armed militias for protection.

The group is known worldwide for pioneering advance fee scams, also known as “419 fraud” for the corresponding section of the Nigerian Criminal Code. In such scams, also commonly known as “Nigerian Prince” cons, scammers send out letters, texts and emails posing as someone seeking help moving money into a foreign account. The sender promises to give the victim a commission in exchange for access to bank account numbers.

Black Axe uses money mules to open bank accounts worldwide and now is under investigation in more than 40 countries for related money-laundering crimes, The Associated Press reported.

Authorities have said that Black Axe’s global expansion has been methodically planned and executed. DW reported that the organization divided the world into “zones,” assigning local “heads.” Zone heads collect dues from those in their regions before sending the money back to leaders in Benin City.

A Police Effort Years in the Making

Interpol’s Jackal operations began in Ireland. After a series of police raids by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau in 2020, officials arrested a handful of Black Axe members, paving the way for the exposure of a far wider network, the BBC reported. Authorities later identified 1,000 people with links to Black Axe in Ireland and made hundreds of arrests for fraud and cybercrime. Irish police operations in November 2023 revealed that cryptocurrency, which can be sent rapidly between digital wallets around the world, is becoming a key element in Black Axe’s money-laundering operations.

Interpol now has launched the Global Rapid Intervention of Payments system, which enables authorities in its member countries to freeze bank accounts around the world with unprecedented speed.

“The volume of financial fraud stemming from West Africa is alarming and increasing,” said Isaac Oginni, director of Interpol’s financial crime center. Referring to the July arrests, he said, “This operation’s results underscore the critical need for international law enforcement collaboration to combat these extensive criminal networks. By identifying suspects, recovering illicit funds and putting some of West Africa’s most dangerous organized crime leaders behind bars, we are able to weaken their influence and reduce their capacity to harm communities around the world.”