Accumulation by/for terrorism: the political economy of terrorism financing in Nigeria

The proliferation of terrorist groups in the northwest region has compounded the security crises in Nigeria as security personnel are deployed across the state in an attempt to halt the violent activities of the terrorists and to restore peace to local communities. Existing scholarly literature on terrorism in the northwest region has predominantly focused on excavating the root causes or sources of the security conundrum or on the consequences of the terrorist groups’ violent activities. Minimal scholarly attention has been given to the phenomenon of terrorism financing—that is, the myriad strategies that the terrorist groups employ to finance their varied and various violent activities. Terrorism financing poses danger to the Nigerian state, society, and economy because it fuels terrorist activities and also engenders the expansion of terrorism. New research is needed to inform policy directions of the state and federal governments on it. I thus seek to uncover terrorist groups’ financial sources including ransom kidnapping, extortion, robbery of markets and highways, forced labour, illegal mining, smuggling, arms trafficking, and cattle rustling. Ultimately, I contend that curtailing terrorism financing is of significant importance in the ongoing war against terrorism and terrorist groups in the troubled region.