FG Raises Alarm Over Terrorists’ Use of PoS, Social Media for Funding
The Federal Government has raised concerns over the increasing use of Point of Sale (PoS) operators and social media platforms by terrorists to finance and promote criminal activities across the country.
The Director-General of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Major-General Adamu Laka, disclosed this on Tuesday during the Centre’s 2025 end-of-year press briefing at its headquarters in Abuja.
Laka said ransom payments remain a major source of terrorism financing, noting that PoS operators are increasingly being exploited to move such funds and evade detection by security agencies. He explained that kidnappers often provide victims’ families with PoS account details, making it more difficult to trace the flow of money.
According to him, investigations have shown that many suspicious transfers are linked to PoS operators rather than the direct beneficiaries.
“You see a transfer made by terrorists, and when you investigate the account, it belongs to a PoS operator. The kidnappers give out the PoS operator’s number, the money is transferred, and they go to collect it,” he said.
The NCTC boss also revealed that Nigerian security agencies are working closely with major social media companies to identify and shut down accounts used by terrorists and criminal groups to spread propaganda and raise funds.
He noted that while social media platforms are business-driven and focused on growing their user base, constant engagement with them has helped to highlight the national security implications of certain online activities.
“These platforms are businesses and are interested in growing their user base, but we engage them and explain the implications of certain posts on national security, and we take them down,” Laka added.
He further stated that terrorist tactics continue to evolve, including the use of aliases and unverified accounts, stressing that security agencies are continuously adapting their strategies to counter emerging threats.