Jihadists in Nigeria using TikTok to spread ideology and recruit fighters
Jihadist groups including Boko Haram are increasing in numbers and strength in northeastern Nigeria, and using social media to publicise their campaigns and find new recruits.
Jihadists in Nigeria and their supporters are increasingly turning to social media platform TikTok, posting videos of themselves posing with rifles, grenades and stacks of cash, according to reports by French news agency AFP.
AFP reviewed videos on the social network, easily accessible to everyone, they said.
At least 100 people were killed in the new wave of jihadist attacks in April, as the governor of Borno, the epicentre of the violence which has raged since 2009, said the state is losing ground to armed groups.
The news agency has identified several accounts on the Chinese-owned platform on which men and women, some of them very young, display weapons and wads of cash.
Algerian TikTok influencer convicted in France for inciting terrorism
Some of them broadcast live, preaching anti-Western ideologies in a style reminiscent of the videos released by deceased Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in the early days of the 15-year-old insurgency.
Criminal gangs that carry out raids on villages and kidnappings for ransom in the northwest of the country have used TikTok in the past, as Nigerians have testified.
(with AFP)
Read more on RFI EnglishRead also:Young Nigerian entrepreneurs seek to reshape relationship with FranceChina courts African allies as tensions with Europe, US deepenCombatting 'fake' news in Africa
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
D-Day veterans gather in Normandy to mark 81st anniversary of pivotal WWII moment
COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France — Veterans gathered Friday in Normandy to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings — a pivotal moment of World War II that eventually led to the collapse of Adolf Hitler's regime. Along the coastline and near the D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended the commemorations, which included parachute jumps, flyovers, remembrance ceremonies, parades, and historical reenactments. Many were there to cheer the ever-dwindling number of surviving veterans in their late 90s and older. 7 Attendees share a laugh with 102-year-old WWII and D-Day Landing US veteran Jake Larson, also known as 'Papa Jake', before the memorial ceremony. AFP via Getty Images All remembered the thousands who died. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth commemorated the anniversary of the D-Day landings, in which American soldiers played a leading role, with veterans at the American Cemetery overlooking the shore in the village of Colleville-sur-Mer. French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu told Hegseth that France knows what it owes to its American allies and the veterans who helped free Europe from the Nazis. 'We don't forget that our oldest allies were there in this grave moment of our history. I say it with deep respect in front of you, veterans, who incarnate this unique friendship between our two countries,' he said. Hegseth said France and the United States should be prepared to fight if danger arises again, and that 'good men are still needed to stand up.' 'Today the United States and France again rally together to confront such threats,' he said, without mentioning a specific enemy. 'Because we strive for peace, we must prepare for war and hopefully deter it.' 7 American reinforcements land on Omaha beach during the Normandy D-Day landings near Vierville sur Mer, France, on June 6, 1944. REUTERS 7 The first wave of troops at Normandy beach taking cover behind enemy obstacles in 1944. AP The June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France used the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to breach Hitler's defenses in western Europe. A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle — and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities — killed around 20,000 French civilians between June and August 1944. 7 Larson meets attendees of the memorial celebration. AP 7 Military flyover at D-Day anniversary ceremony in Normandy June 6, 2025. AFP via Getty Images The exact number of German casualties is unknown, but historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded or missing during the D-Day invasion alone. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day. Of those, 73,000 were from the U.S. and 83,000 from Britain and Canada. 7 Soldiers wading ashore from a landing craft on June 6th, 1944. AP 7 U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wears socks showing the American flag during the ceremony. AP Forces from several other countries were also involved, including French troops fighting with Gen. Charles de Gaulle. The Allies faced around 50,000 German forces. More than 2 million Allied soldiers, sailors, pilots, medics and other people from a dozen countries were involved in the overall Operation Overlord, the battle to wrest western France from Nazi control that started on D-Day.
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
A British TV art expert who sold works to a suspected Hezbollah financier is sentenced to prison
LONDON — An art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison for failing to report his sale of pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group . Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The art sales took place between October 2020 and December 2021.
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
A British TV art expert who sold works to a suspected Hezbollah financier is sentenced to prison
LONDON (AP) — An art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison for failing to report his sale of pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group. Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The art sales took place between October 2020 and December 2021. Ojiri, who also appeared on the BBC's Antiques Road Trip, faced a possible sentence of five years in prison in the hearing at London's Central Criminal Court, which is better known as the Old Bailey. In addition to the prison term, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri faces an additional year on license. Ojiri sold about 140,000 pounds ($185,000) worth of artworks to Nazem Ahmad, a diamond and art dealer sanctioned by the U.K. and U.S. as a Hezbollah financier. The sanctions were designed to prevent anyone in the U.K. or U.S. from trading with Ahmad or his businesses. 'This prosecution, using specific Terrorism Act legislation, is the first of its kind and should act as a warning to all art dealers that we can, and will, pursue those who knowingly do business with people identified as funders of terrorist groups,' said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command. The Met's investigation into Ojiri was carried out alongside Homeland Security in the U.S., which is conducting a wider investigation into alleged money laundering by Ahmad using shell companies. Ahmad was sanctioned in 2019 by the U.S. Treasury, which said he was a prominent Lebanon-based money launderer involved in smuggling blood diamonds, which are mined in conflict zones and sold to finance violence. Two years ago, the U.K. Treasury froze Ahmad's assets because he financed Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization that has been designated an international terrorist group. Following Ojiri's arrest in April 2023, the Met obtained a warrant to seize a number of artworks, including a Picasso and Andy Warhol paintings, belonging to Ahmad and held in two warehouses in the U.K. The collection, valued at almost 1 million pounds, is due to be sold with the funds to be reinvested back into the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office.
