Terrorist financing has been described as an enabler and driver of terrorism because it provides the resources needed for the sustenance of the operations of terrorist organisations.
The assertion was contained in a lecture delivered at a 2-day Training Workshop “On Preventing Terrorism Financing and Violent Extremism,” a project financed by GIABA-ECOWAS in collaboration with the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), held in Yola on Friday, by Professor Jude Momodu, a specialist in Peace and Security Studies at the Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State.
According to him, “every organised illegal activity, be it terrorism, insurgency, militancy, or banditry, requires funding.”
He stressed that “funds are needed to recruit members, purchase equipment, pay salaries and intelligence information, logistics, support for cells, upgrade equipment, support their members, and plan and execute attacks.”
The university lecturer added, “Funding is the livewire of all organised illegal or illicit activity. Financing terrorism facilitates a steady flow of funds to terrorist organisations. Terrorists and terrorist organisations use both legitimate and illegitimate means to raise funds.”
He further noted, “In Nigeria, terrorism financing is a very troubling concern because it has been facilitating the operations of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP), Boko Haram terrorists in the north-eastern region, including the Ansaru terrorist group operating in the North West and North Central regions, as well as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).”
On sources of funds for ISWAP, he explained that an ICG (2019) report noted ISWAP’s practice of encouraging traders to conduct business in their controlled areas, requiring them to bring goods in high demand for sale to members and local civilians.
