Skip to main content

Terrorists now using dead people’s SIM cards to raise funds – NFIU



The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, has disclosed that terrorists and extremist groups are currently using the SIM cards of dead people to raise illicit funds for their criminal activities.

This is contained in the agency’s 2026 Annual report released on Monday.

The NFIU equally stated that terrorist financiers were also opening bank accounts in women’s names and using phone numbers for mobile banking or account alerts that were not registered to the account holders or actual beneficiaries.

The agency’s report showed that the crowdfunding schemes involved foreign-based facilitators using social media platforms to solicit donations under the guise of humanitarian relief or educational support before moving the funds through multiple layers to terrorist operatives in Nigeria.

According to the report, hundreds of sympathisers were encouraged to make contributions ranging from $50 to $500 through PayPal pages or conventional bank accounts, with the amounts deliberately kept low to avoid triggering automated anti-money laundering alerts.

The agency, while explaining the method, revealed that foreign-based facilitators ran social media campaigns seeking donations for purported humanitarian or educational causes and used encrypted messaging applications to distribute links to payment pages and bank accounts.

It further indicated that the funds were pooled in master accounts controlled by senior members of the groups living legally abroad.

“Terrorists are now using dead people’s SIM cards to raise funds. When the pool reaches a threshold, that account becomes the hub for onward movement.

“The funds would subsequently be fragmented into dozens of smaller payments and transferred through International Money Transfer Operators and remittance applications to a network of money mules in Nigeria,” the report stated.

 NFIU is a financial intelligence unit responsible for collecting and analysing disclosures from reporting organizations to produce intelligence for agencies combating money laundering, terrorism financing and other financial crimes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woman Burned to Death, Accused of Kidnapping 7yrs Old Boy in Delta

By Tessy ogbemi An angry mob set ablaze a woman accused in a failed child kidnapping attempt in Agbarho community, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.  The incident happened on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.  An eyewitness disclosed at the scene of the incident at Ekwvere Road claimed that the woman hid the seven year old boy she allegedly abducted in a sack, adding that she was even carrying a Bible on one hand.  Community sources said some residents in the area accosted the lady when they observed the way she was dragging the sack, to know what she had in it.  "She was unstable when they asked her to disclose what she was carrying in the sack. When the bag was forced open, they found a seven year old child in it. They shouted and it attracted a large crowd,” a source said.  It was gathered that the angry mob immediately brought a used tyre to the scene, which they forced down her neck after beating her to a pulp.  “The lady and the tyre we...
2 comments
Read more

Breaking: ASUU suspends 2-week warning strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has suspended its two-week warning strike it declared last week across all public universities in the country. The union announced the suspension on Wednesday at a press conference held at its headquarters in Abuja. President of ASUU, Chris Piwuna, who read a prepared speech before newsmen, explained that the development followed intervention by the Senate and some other well-meaning Nigerians. However, he sad the National Executive Council of the Union resolved to give the government a one-month window to address all contending areas.
2 comments
Read more

JUST IN: If Tinubu Had Told Me, I Wouldn’t Have Agreed To Rivers State Of Emergency Rule – Wike

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has stated that he would not have agreed with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if he had discussed his move to declare a State of Emergency in Rivers State. Wike noted that he is not in conflict with the suspended Rivers State Governor,      Sim Fubara  He stressed his opposition on the State of Emergency rule, stating that only the President knows the right time to lift it. While speaking to journalists in Abuja on Monday, Wike remarked that Fubara has permitted himself to be manipulated by his adversaries to oppose him. The FCT Minister said: “ I made it clear that this impunity will not stand, so what is happening in PDP is what I call undertakers because I see no reason why you will put yourself under that kind of crisis. “I don’t have any crisis with him (Fubara). I’m not the President who declared a State of Emergency; if Mr President had called me, I wouldn’t have agreed to the State of Emergenc...
Post a Comment
Read more