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HomeEntertainmentHow Snapchat is helping Nigeria’s Black Axe cult target British teens

How Snapchat is helping Nigeria’s Black Axe cult target British teens

A deadly Nigerian cult that once prospered on blood rituals and machete killings has found a new weapon, Snapchat.

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Read more: How Snapchat is helping Nigeria’s Black Axe cult target British teens

According to a BBC investigation, the notorious confraternity-turned-global mafia, Black Axe, now uses the popular social media platform to recruit British teenagers and students into its £3.8 billion cybercrime empire.

From Campus Cult to Global Syndicate

Black Axe began in the 1970s as a university fraternity in Nigeria. Over time, it grew into a feared criminal organisation involved in fraud, drug trafficking, human smuggling, extortion, and murder.

Initiation remains chilling.

New recruits, known as Axemen, endure torture, nudity, and blood-drinking rituals before pledging allegiance for life.

Today, its members, estimated at over 30,000 worldwide, have gone digital, swapping machetes for mobile phones and rituals for ransomware.

The Snapchat Trap

Law enforcement agencies warn that British teens, students in debt, and even young professionals are being lured through disappearing Snapchat messages with promises of easy money.

Once hooked, they become money mules, moving stolen funds through their bank accounts.

Some are blackmailed using compromising images, while others, especially those working in IT or banking, are targeted for access to sensitive data.

They think it’s quick cash, Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of Ireland’s Economic Crime Bureau told the BBC. But once you join, you owe them—and they control you like drug dealers.

£3.8 Billion Crime Network

The Black Axe cybercrime portfolio includes romance scams, phishing attacks, business email fraud, ransomware, and cryptocurrency theft. Victims worldwide lose over £3.8 billion every year, according to US Pentagon analysts.

Snapchat’s disappearing messages make detection difficult, allowing recruiters called “herders” to operate under the radar. Some even have day jobs in IT firms.

Interpol Crackdown and a Global Web

In 2023, Interpol launched Operation Jackal III, a massive sting that led to:

300 arrests in 21 countries

£2.24m in assets seized

700 bank accounts frozen

But the cult remains active and adaptive. Interpol warns that new financial tech innovations only help the gang stay ahead.

They’re early adopters of technology, an Interpol officer said. “Every fintech app becomes their next crime tool.

Still a Cult of Blood

Despite its digital pivot, Black Axe’s brutality in Nigeria persists—mutilated bodies and ritual killings still surface. Former insiders allege the group thrives on corruption and collusion with local authorities, while laundering millions through crypto networks abroad.

They’re destroying lives and funding terror, Isaac Oginni of Interpol’s Financial Crime Centre stated.

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