Nigeria has called for stronger regional cooperation to disrupt terrorists’ use of artificial intelligence (AI), drones, cryptocurrencies and other digital technologies for recruitment, propaganda, operational coordination and financing across West Africa and the Sahel.
The National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at the opening of a three-day regional training of trainers on detecting and disrupting terrorists’ use of information and communication technologies in West Africa and the Sahel.
The training was organised by ONSA in collaboration with the African Union Counter-Terrorism Centre (AUCTC) and the Sahel’s Fusion and Liaison Unit (UFL).
Laka said terrorist groups were increasingly exploiting digital technologies to recruit members, radicalise individuals, coordinate operations and raise funds across national borders.
He identified social media platforms, messaging applications, AI-generated content, autonomous systems and cryptocurrency transactions as emerging tools being exploited by terrorist networks.
He stressed the need for regional security agencies to strengthen their capacity to anticipate, detect, analyse and disrupt digital threats before they materialise.
According to him, Nigeria must develop a new generation of specialists equipped to counter the evolving threat posed by technology-enabled terrorism.
“The need to build a new generation of experts capable of anticipating and disrupting digital threats before they materialise cannot be overemphasised,” Laka said.
He explained that the three-day programme was designed to equip participants with the knowledge and practical skills required to train personnel in their respective countries.
Laka said the initiative extended beyond acquiring technological tools to developing expertise, strengthening institutions and building partnerships for the responsible use of technology in counterterrorism operations.
“The goal is not just to acquire technology but to develop people, institutions and partnerships that can use technology responsibly for counterterrorism,” he said.
He identified regional cooperation as critical to addressing the threat, urging security agencies to strengthen intelligence sharing and establish lawful mechanisms for exchanging cyber-threat information.
Laka said effective collaboration would enable countries to respond more swiftly to threats that transcend national borders and exploit weaknesses in individual security systems.
He also disclosed that the NCTC was working towards becoming a Regional Centre of Excellence for counterterrorism, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s declaration at the 2024 High-Level Africa Counterterrorism Summit held in Abuja.
According to him, the centre is collaborating with the AUCTC to secure accreditation for the proposed regional role.
He said the accreditation would enable the NCTC to provide capacity-building support to other countries under the AUCTC Continental Cybersecurity Capability Programme 2026–2030.
Laka urged participants drawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Multinational Joint Task Force and regional intelligence structures to maximise the training and replicate the knowledge acquired in their respective countries.
“Information only becomes valuable when it is shared responsibly and converted into actionable intelligence through trusted relationships and effective systems,” he said.
Earlier, the Acting Director of the AUCTC, Mr Idriss Lallali, warned that terrorist cells with limited financial resources were exploiting affordable technologies to outpace government response mechanisms.
Lallali expressed concern that groups such as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Boko Haram and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) were extending their reach beyond physical territories through digital platforms and emerging technologies.
He said the groups were using social media for recruitment, mobile money and cryptocurrencies to transfer funds, and the darknet to procure weapons.
He added that drones were expanding the operational capabilities of terrorist networks and enabling them to extend their activities across borders.
According to Lallali, the challenge lay not only in the technological sophistication of the tools available to terrorist groups but also in their affordability and the speed with which they could be deployed.
He explained that even a small terrorist cell could reach large audiences and execute operations faster than bureaucratic security systems could respond.
Lallali noted that African countries had varying capacities to counter such threats, creating gaps that targeted training and stronger coordination could help address.
He stressed the need for initiatives that would improve technical expertise and strengthen cooperation among African member states.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the UFL, Ambassador Fatima Abdallah-Arasahi, represented by Mr Baba Keita, reaffirmed the unit’s commitment to regional counterterrorism cooperation.
She said the UFL was prepared to work with regional partners to weaken terrorist networks and address their exploitation of information and communication technologies.
“The willingness to involve all our services demonstrates the interest that the UFL attaches to the selected theme,” she said.
Abdallah-Arasahi said the training addressed the growing challenge posed by terrorist groups’ exploitation of information and communication technologies and other emerging tools.
“The UFL is ready to support all initiatives related to the concerns of its member services in the fight against terrorism and the strengthening of cooperation among regional mechanisms,” Keita said.
The training is expected to strengthen regional expertise, intelligence sharing and cooperation in identifying and disrupting terrorists’ use of digital platforms and emerging technologies.
