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Nigeria’s Black Axe – A New Global Scam Mafia is Spreading
The Stark Reality of One of the World’s Deadliest Crime Syndicates!
Primary Category: Crimes & Criminals
Authors:
• SCARS Editorial Team – Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
• Portions Translated from Deutsche Welle
• Post main image source: BBC – copyright acknowledged
About This Article
The Black Axe is one of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations, with roots in Nigeria but an extensive global reach. Much of its wealth is derived from internet scams and financial fraud, often involving romance scams where victims, usually women, are deceived into sending large sums of money.
The group’s structure is complex and loosely organized, making it difficult for law enforcement to dismantle. However, recent efforts by Interpol, including Operation Jackal III, have led to significant arrests and the freezing of bank accounts, highlighting the need for international cooperation in combating such criminal networks.
Despite these successes, experts warn that the Black Axe and similar groups continue to pose a serious threat, with deep-rooted connections to other criminal activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking. These organizations have evolved from their origins as secret societies and student associations into powerful mafia-like syndicates that operate with terrifying secrecy and loyalty among their members.
Black Axe: Nigeria’s Mafia Cult – BBC Africa Eye documentary
WARNING: This video contains explicit criminal activities. View discretion is advised!
Black Axe is One of the World’s Deadliest Criminal Organizations and Much of Its Money Comes From Scams!
Translated from German
300 arrests, investigators from 20 countries, millions of dollars worth of stolen goods seized: Interpol has succeeded in striking a blow against the Black Axe, a scammer mafia group from West Africa.
What is behind the organization?
When Stephan Fuchs starts to talk about the structures of the Black Axe, dozens of papers quickly appear on his desk. Arrows, connecting lines, diagrams. The inner workings of the Nigerian group are complex – and according to expert Fuchs, that is precisely the recipe for its success. “Nigerian networks were recognized by the authorities,” he says, “but for a long time they were unable to understand the group dynamics and the mechanics behind them.”
The co-director of the Swiss victim protection organization Victras has been advising prosecutors for many years about groups like Black Axe from Nigeria and how they spread. In Europe, the general public has hardly known anything about them. However, the criminal organizations have grown rapidly worldwide in recent years: “They are involved in international drug trafficking, money laundering, internet fraud, human trafficking and, in some cases, protection racketeering. Arms trafficking has also been observed in Libya .”
Professional Network for Criminals
Law enforcement is now increasingly targeting the Black Axe, as the group is sometimes called in German-speaking countries. Between April and July, the international police organization Interpol carried out Operation Jackal III. In addition to 300 people arrested, more than 400 other suspects were identified worldwide and 720 bank accounts were blocked. Police officers from 21 countries were involved in the operations. “The operation shows how urgently international cooperation between law enforcement agencies is needed in this area,” explains Isaac Oginni, head of Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Center.
One area of Black Axe’s criminal activities has recently become particularly prominent: financial and internet fraud. Tobias Uche is one of the people who have been warning for years about the group’s global spread. During his research, the private investigator came across chat forums in which criminals made fun of the victims of their online fraud. Often these were women, with whom they pretended to have romantic relationships and who transferred them large sums of money.
The deeper Uche penetrated into the underlying structures, the more a terrifying shadow world opened up to him. “This secret society is a kind of LinkedIn for criminals. The members know exactly where to find Person X, who provides fake ID documents, or Person Y, who has stolen credit cards on offer,” says Uche. It is precisely these rather loose network structures and the lack of a classic hierarchy that make the Black Axe so successful. After the private investigator published his first findings, he received numerous death threats. That is why he chose Tobias Uche as his cover name.
Secret Society, Cultist Sect, or Organized Crime Syndicate?
However, the Black Axe is not the only criminal group from Nigeria that has been spreading worldwide for years. Expert Stephan Fuchs names names: “The Supreme Eiye Confraternity, Supreme Vikings Confraternity, Green Circuit Association International, Eternal Fraternal Order of the Legion Consortium – these are probably the best known in Europe.” However, prosecutors often disagree on the description of the groups. While some speak of Nigerian secret societies or simply of criminal networks, others prefer descriptions such as brotherhood (confraternity) or sect (cult). “All statements are correct,” says Stephan Fuchs.
This makes prosecution particularly difficult: by no means all members who identify themselves as members of one of these groups are involved in criminal activities. The origins of many secret societies go back to the time of the African independence movements in the 1950s and 1960s, when young activists against colonial rule formed underground student associations. But in Nigeria’s political chaos, criminals have infiltrated the groups. At the same time, they have increasingly recruited young, violent men from the streets.
Dropouts are in Mortal Danger
Nigerian John Omoruan was also a member of the Black Axe for many years. Despite all the dangers, the dropout decided to speak publicly about the inner workings of the secret societies. For him, the group’s drift into organized crime began at the end of the 1980s. “That was when they discovered the smuggling of marijuana to Europe,” says Omoruan. Criminals infiltrated the Black Axe because they found optimal structures for their business: terrifying rituals instill unconditional loyalty and absolute secrecy in all new members. The groups then became increasingly unscrupulous and spread to migrant communities all over the world – but at the same time, their original principle and cohesion have hardly changed.
For victim protection expert Fuchs, Interpol’s latest action shows that prosecutors now have a better understanding of the structures and methods of the Black Axe. Nevertheless, he warns against resting on their laurels. When fighting them, the criminal groups from Nigeria must be seen for what they are: a dangerous mafia.
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Some of our articles discuss various aspects of victims. This is both about better understanding victims (the science of victimology) and their behaviors and psychology. This helps us to educate victims/survivors about why these crimes happened and to not blame themselves, better develop recovery programs, and to help victims avoid scams in the future. At times this may sound like blaming the victim, but it does not blame scam victims, we are simply explaining the hows and whys of the experience victims have.
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