The Federal Government has called on the African Union (AU) to intensify efforts against illicit financial flows, warning that the rising wave of terrorism and violent extremism on the continent is being fuelled by such funds.The government also reaffirmed its commitment to partnerships aimed at countering terrorism and violent extremism across Africa.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Magnus Eze, media aide to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said the minister made the call at the 1354th Meeting of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union at the ministerial level, held virtually on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. The meeting was presided over by Uganda’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairperson of the AU Peace and Security Council for July 2026, Haruna Kasolo.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu said a major obstacle to progress in the fight against terrorism in Africa was access to illicit funds, which she said facilitates the recruitment of youths and the procurement of weapons by terrorist groups. She called on the Peace and Security Council to press for stronger international cooperation in preventing, tracing, recovering and returning proceeds of illicit financial flows from safe havens to countries of origin.
The minister further noted that terrorist groups on the continent were becoming more resilient against conventional military counter-terrorism operations, increasingly acquiring commercially available technologies such as drones and other sophisticated digital platforms. She added that these groups also have what appears to be unhindered access to illicit financing through kidnapping for ransom and the mining of precious minerals in territories where they operate.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Nigeria strongly condemned all acts of terrorism and violent extremism and extended the country’s solidarity to victims of the menace, while commending the sacrifices of armed forces confronting terrorists across the continent.
She also observed that the spread of terrorism and violent extremism in West Africa had been cited by military adventurists as justification for unconstitutionally overthrowing democratically elected governments, adding that the AU’s greatest challenge remained determining the best way to curtail the operational freedom of jihadist groups on the continent.
