Terrorist Financiers Exploit Dead Persons’ Accounts, Women’s Bank Details to Move Funds — NFIU

The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has uncovered fresh tactics allegedly being used by terrorist financiers to move, conceal and distribute funds, including the use of bank accounts belonging to women and telephone lines registered in the names of deceased persons.

The disclosure was contained in the NFIU’s 2025 Annual Report, which highlighted emerging methods being employed by criminal and terrorist networks to evade financial monitoring and conceal the true beneficiaries of suspicious transactions.

According to the report, crowdfunding platforms, proxy bank accounts and international remittance services have increasingly become channels through which funds are raised and transferred to individuals connected to terrorist activities.

The NFIU said some foreign-based facilitators had been using social media platforms to solicit donations under the guise of supporting humanitarian, educational or charitable causes.

The funds, it explained, were subsequently moved through several layers of transactions before eventually reaching operatives or associates of terrorist networks in Nigeria.

The agency noted that donors were often encouraged to make relatively small payments, which were later consolidated in accounts controlled by senior members of the networks.

The money could then be broken into smaller transfers and sent through international money transfer operators and remittance applications to individuals allegedly acting as money mules.

The NFIU identified students, small business owners and relatives among those allegedly recruited to receive such funds.

The money could subsequently be converted into cash or used to purchase items that could support terrorist operations, including motorcycles, fertiliser and satellite communication equipment.

The financial intelligence agency also raised concerns over the use of women as fronts for financial transactions.

It said terrorist financiers sometimes opened accounts in the names of wives, sisters or female associates while secretly maintaining control over the bank cards, PINs and mobile banking credentials.

Another emerging tactic identified by the NFIU involves the alleged use of pre-registered SIM cards and telephone numbers belonging to deceased persons.

Such lines are reportedly used for mobile banking services and transaction alerts, making it more difficult for investigators to determine the actual individuals controlling the accounts and benefiting from the transactions.

The report further revealed that some terrorist cells, including networks linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), allegedly used coded or ordinary-looking transaction descriptions to disguise the purpose of payments and avoid triggering automated financial monitoring systems.

The NFIU’s findings have raised fresh concerns about vulnerabilities within Nigeria’s financial system and the growing sophistication of methods used to move illicit funds.

Security and financial analysts have therefore called on banks, fintech companies, remittance operators and intelligence agencies to strengthen customer identification and verification procedures.

They also urged institutions to improve the sharing of financial intelligence and closely monitor unusual transactions involving dormant, newly opened or third-party accounts.

The agency’s findings underscore the need for stronger collaboration between financial institutions, law-enforcement bodies and intelligence agencies in tracking suspicious financial activities and disrupting the flow of money to terrorist networks.

By tightening financial controls and improving the ability to identify the real beneficiaries behind suspicious transactions, authorities hope to make it more difficult for terrorist financiers and their associates to exploit legitimate banking and remittance channels to fund criminal activities.

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