Whenever Stephan Fuchs starts talking about Black Axe, his desk quickly gets cluttered with dozens of notes, arrows, and diagrams. The co-director of Victras, a Swiss non-governmental organization fighting human trafficking, says these complex inner machinations are precisely what makes the group so successful. "Authorities can recognize Nigerian networks," he explains, "but for a long time, nobody understood the group dynamics and mechanics behind them."

For years, Fuchs has been advising law enforcement agencies on groups such as Black Axe and explaining how they spread. In Europe, the wider public is barely aware of such groups, even though criminal organizations like these have been on the rise in past years.

"They are involved in international drug trade, money laundering, internet fraud, human trafficking and sometimes also protection rackets," Fuchs says. "In Libya, there was even arms trafficking."

A professional network for criminals

Lately, prosecutors have been zeroing in on the Black Axe group. Between April and July this year, the global network of law enforcement agencies Interpol conducted Operation Jackal III, targeting West African organized crime groups. The anti-financial crime operation saw 300 individuals arrested, 720 bank accounts blocked, and over 400 suspects identified across the globe. Police officers from 21 countries were involved.

"This operation's results underscore the critical need for international law enforcement collaboration to combat these extensive criminal networks," Isaac Oginni, director of Interpol's financial crime and anti-corruption center, explained.

When tracing the criminal activities of Black Axe, two types of crime stand out in particular: internet and financial fraud. Uche Tobias is one of those who have been warning about the global spread of the organization for years. During his research, the private investigator came across chat forums in which criminals made fun of their victims. Many of those victims were women who had been misled to believe they were in a romantic relationship before paying out large sums of money to their scammers.

The further Tobias delved into the organization, the more he discovered a frightening criminal underworld. "This secret association is like LinkedIn for criminals," he says. "The members know exactly where to find person X, who can provide fake IDs, or person Y, who offers stolen credit cards."

This loose network, with no hierarchical structure, is what makes Black Axe so successful. The anti-fraud investigator received a number of death threats when he first published his findings — and hence chose 'Uche Tobias' as a pseudonym.

Confraternity, cult or criminal organization?

Black Axe is not the only criminal Nigerian group that had been growing for years, Stephan Fuchs explains. "The Supreme Eiye Confraternity, the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, the Green Circuit Association International, the Eternal Fraternal Order of the Legion Consortium — those are probably the most well-known in Europe."

Prosecutors often already disagree when it comes to describing these kinds of groupings. While some refer to them as secret associations or simply criminal networks, others prefer the terms "confraternity" or "cult."

"All labels are appropriate," Fuchs says.

That makes criminal prosecution all the more difficult because it means that not all group members are involved in criminal activities. Many such secret societies originated in the 1950s and 1960s during Nigeria's independence movement, as many young underground activists formed student groups to fight against colonial rule.

But amidst the political turmoil, criminals infiltrated these groups and began recruiting young people from the streets who were primed for violence.

Death threats for dropouts

John Omoruan was a member of the Black Axe for years. Despite the dangers he faced, he decided to speak out about the inner workings of the group. He says that the group began drifting off into organized crime in the 1980s: "That's when they discovered they could smuggle marijuana to Europe.”

Criminals began infiltrating Black Axe, because it provided the ideal structure for their dealings. Meanwhile, terrifying rituals inculcated new members in unconditional loyalty and absolute secrecy. Omoruan says that later, the groups became more and more ruthless, and began spreading through communities across the world. But he doesn't believe their original organizing principles have changed much.

Fuchs believes Interpol's recent operation shows that law enforcement is getting better at understanding the structures and systems at work in Black Axe. But he cautioned not to rest on those laurels. When it came to fighting these groups, he says it's important to see them for what they are: organized crime. 

This article was translated from German.