How Terrorists Are Exploiting Young Cryptocurrency Traders in Nigeria, EFCC Chairman Reveals
EFCC Chairman Reveals Terrorists Exploit Nigerian Cryptocurrency Traders to Fund Activities.
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed that terrorists are exploiting young cryptocurrency traders in Nigeria to finance their operations. Olukoyede made this disclosure at an event organized by civil society organizations in Abuja, focusing on preventing terrorism financing and violent extremism.
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During the “Multi-stakeholders’ National Dialogue on Preventing Terrorism Financing and Violent Extremism” held at Transcorp Hilton Hotels, Abuja, Olukoyede highlighted the unintentional involvement of some cryptocurrency traders in terrorism financing. He explained that individuals engaged in cryptocurrency trading often received funds from financiers who were actually supporting terrorist activities, unbeknownst to the traders.
“Some of you are aware of our activities in the area of investigating virtual currency trading and the like of cryptocurrencies. They are potential platforms to fund terrorism. A lot of us don’t understand that. Some of our discoveries during the investigation of some of these platforms were mind-boggling,” Olukoyede stated.
He noted that the EFCC had recently frozen 1,146 bank accounts that were being used as conduits for terrorism funding. Among the platforms under scrutiny, Olukoyede mentioned Binance, noting its involvement but also pointing out that other platforms have been identified.
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“We thought Binance was a major one. Yes, it was. We are prosecuting them. But there are other platforms we have discovered. They used some of these young men. Some of them don’t know that the people who gave them money to trade are people who fund terrorism,” he said.
Olukoyede emphasized the importance of technological advancements in tracking funds used for terrorism. He recounted a conversation with an assistant director at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who highlighted the capability of advanced systems to track every printed dollar worldwide.
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“It is important for us to adopt the use of technology. I was comparing notes with an assistant director in the FBI — a friend of mine. He said: ‘My brother, from our systems in the US, we can track every printed dollar anywhere in the world’,” Olukoyede added.
The EFCC chairman stressed that Nigeria must advance to a stage where it can effectively use technology to track naira notes involved in terrorism funding, underscoring the critical need for technological integration in financial investigations.
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