Journalist Mentions 4 Different Ways Boko Haram Gets Money to Sustain Its Terrorism Against Nigeria
- Boko Haram’s survival has long puzzled Nigerians, but fresh insights revealed how the group built a resilient financial system
- Journalist Ahmad Salkida explained that its funding evolved from community donations to criminal enterprises over two decades
- His account showed that adaptive financing had kept the insurgency alive despite years of military pressure
Ahmad Salkida, a Nigerian journalist and CEO of Humangle Media, wrote on December 6 that Boko Haram and its splinter faction ISWAP had built a financial system that made it difficult to trace their survival to a single benefactor.
He explained that the group spread its financial roots widely from the beginning.
Source: Getty Images
Community crowdfunding and donations
Salkida reported that between 2002 and 2009, nearly 90 percent of Boko Haram’s revenue came from community-level crowdfunding, Zakat contributions, and occasional lump-sum donations from international groups such as Al-Qaeda.
Bank robberies and ransom payments
As the group transformed into a full insurgency between 2009 and 2014, its funding streams expanded. According to Salkida, Boko Haram relied on bank robberies and ransom payments, while still maintaining public fundraising activities.
Criminal enterprise and trade networks
From 2014 to the present, the journalist stated that Boko Haram had operated more like a criminal-terrorist enterprise. He noted that the organisation drew income from trade networks, taxes and levies imposed on communities, extortion rackets, crop and fish farming, ransom payments, and periodic financial support from the so-called Islamic State.
Source: Getty Images
Adaptive financing model
Salkida emphasised that this adaptive financing model was one of the main reasons Boko Haram and ISWAP had endured despite sustained military pressure.
He wrote:
“#BokoHaram/#ISWAP was built in a way that made it impossible to pin its survival on any single benefactor. From the start, the movement spread its financial roots widely. Between 2002 and 2009, nearly 90 percent of its revenue came from community-level crowdfunding, Zakat, and occasional lump-sum donations from groups like Al-Qaeda. As the group morphed into a full insurgency between 2009 and 2014, its funding streams expanded to include bank robberies and ransom payments alongside continued public fundraising. From 2014 to the present, the organisation has operated more like a criminal-terrorist enterprise, drawing income from trade networks, taxes and levies imposed on communities, extortion rackets, crop and fish farming, ransom payments, and periodic financial support from the ‘Islamic State.’ This adaptive financing model is one of the main reasons the group(s) has endured despite sustained military pressure.”
See the X post below:
Top Nigerians who reacted after being named in connection to terrorism financing
Legit.ng earlier reported that a recent report published on Sahara Reporters on December 5 revisited an investigation into 23 suspected terror financiers allegedly handling billions of naira linked to Boko Haram convicts.
Retired Maj. Gen. Danjuma Ali-Keffi, who led the probe, reportedly noted that some suspects had business connections with high-profile figures, including former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami and former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, strongly denied allegations linking him to terrorism financing. He described the claim as mischievous and malicious.
Source: Legit.ng
