Foreign minister warns terrorist groups are acquiring drones, mining minerals and using kidnapping ransoms for unhindered access to financing across the continent.

Nigeria has called on the African Union (AU) to intensify efforts to disrupt the illicit financial flows sustaining terrorist groups across Africa, warning that armed groups are growing more resilient against conventional military operations by exploiting unregulated funding sources.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu made the call on Tuesday during a virtual meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) held at the ministerial level. The disclosure was contained in a statement issued by Magnus Eze, the minister’s media aide.

Illicit funds the “major obstacle” in Africa’s counterterrorism fight

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said access to illicit financing is the single biggest barrier to progress in the fight against terrorism on the continent, enabling recruitment and weapons procurement at scale.

“Mr. Chair, a major obstacle to any progress being made in the fight against terrorism in Africa is access to illicit funds,” she said.

“It facilitates the recruitment of youths and the procurement of lethal weapons by terrorist groups. We call on the PSC to stress the need for stronger international cooperation in preventing, tracing, recovering, and returning proceeds of illicit financial flows from safe havens to countries of origins.”

She said terrorist groups were acquiring commercially available technologies and generating revenue through criminal activity.

“They are increasingly acquiring and deploying commercially available technologies, such as drones and other sophisticated digital platforms. They are also having what seems to be unhindered access to illicit financing through kidnapping for ransom and mining of precious minerals in territories where they operate.”

Nigeria strongly condemns terrorism, calls on partners to deny arms to non-state actors

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Nigeria “strongly condemned” all acts of terrorism and violent extremism and expressed solidarity with all victims across the continent. She said the greatest challenge facing the AU is determining how best to curtail the operational freedom of jihadist groups.

She called on international partners to affirm zero tolerance for terrorism by preventing non-state actors from acquiring arms, ammunition, drones, dual-use goods and other sophisticated weapons manufactured by companies in their territories.

The minister also warned against Africa being labelled the global epicentre of terrorism, stressing that such characterisation could lead to the unnecessary profiling of innocent Africans and expose them to ill-treatment at international airports and other destinations.

Nigeria’s own counterterrorism approach: kinetic, non-kinetic and regional

Odumegwu-Ojukwu outlined Nigeria’s domestic and regional counterterrorism strategy, describing a combination of military operations, deradicalisation programmes and community engagement.

“Our sustained operations have ensured significant degrade in the operational capacity of Boko Haram and ISWAP as well as the restoration of government authority in many of the affected communities. We are combating financiers of terrorist activities in the country. We are also deradicalising, rehabilitating and reintegrating repentant ex-combatants,” she said.

She added that Nigeria has scaled up investment in education, critical infrastructure, economic empowerment of youths, community resilience, and engagement with traditional and religious leaders, women and youth to counter extremist narratives and prevent radicalisation.

On regional cooperation, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Nigeria is working closely with neighbouring countries and championing the implementation of the ECOWAS regional counter-terrorism strategy.

“In particular, we endorse the emphasis on strengthening intelligence-sharing and operational cooperation among member states; disrupting terrorist financing networks; enhancing the continental early warning system to improve early detection and response; strengthening cybersecurity; and developing continental guidelines for responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence in the prevention of and fight against terrorism and violent extremism,” she said.

The minister said Nigeria’s support for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has made it the “continental best practice” on regional mechanisms for combating terrorist operations.