By ISAAC AREGBESOLA

Nigeria has called for intensified regional efforts to disrupt terrorists’ exploitation of artificial intelligence (AI), drones and virtual assets for propaganda, recruitment and financing across West Africa and the Sahel.

Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), made the call on Tuesday in Abuja.

He spoke at the opening of a three-day regional training of trainers on ‘Detecting and Disrupting Terrorists’ Use of Information and Communication Technologies in West Africa and the Sahel’.

ONSA organised the training in collaboration with the African Union Counter-Terrorism Centre (AUCTC) and the Sahel’s Fusion and Liaison Unit (UFL).

Laka said terrorist groups were increasingly exploiting digital technologies to recruit members, radicalise individuals, coordinate operations and raise funds across national borders.

He identified social media, messaging applications, AI-generated content, autonomous systems and cryptocurrency transactions as emerging tools being deployed by terrorist networks.

The NCTC coordinator stressed the need for regional security agencies to strengthen their capacity to anticipate, detect, analyse and disrupt digital threats before they materialised.

He said Nigeria could not afford to lag behind in addressing the evolving threat, emphasising the need to develop experts capable of countering technology-enabled terrorism.

“The need to build a new generation of experts capable of anticipating and disrupting digital threats before they materialise cannot be overemphasised,” Laka said.

He explained that the three-day programme was designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills required to train others in their respective countries.

According to him, the initiative goes beyond acquiring technological tools to developing people, strengthening institutions and building partnerships for responsible technology use.

“The goal is not just to acquire technology but to develop people, institutions and partnerships that can use technology responsibly for counterterrorism,” he said.

Laka described regional cooperation as critical to tackling the threat, urging security agencies to improve intelligence sharing and establish lawful mechanisms for exchanging cyber threat information.

He said effective collaboration would enable countries to respond more quickly to threats that transcend national borders and exploit weaknesses in individual security systems.

The coordinator also disclosed that the NCTC was transitioning into a Regional Centre of Excellence for counterterrorism.

He said the initiative aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s declaration at the 2024 High-Level Africa Counterterrorism Summit held in Abuja.

According to Laka, the centre is working with the AUCTC to secure accreditation for the proposed regional role.

He said accreditation would enable the NCTC to extend capacity-building support to other countries under the AUCTC Continental Cybersecurity Capability Programme 2026–2030.

Laka urged participants, drawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Multinational Joint Task Force and regional intelligence structures, to maximise the training.

He challenged them to replicate the knowledge acquired and strengthen their countries’ ability to detect and disrupt terrorists’ use of emerging technologies.

“Information only becomes valuable when it is shared responsibly and converted into actionable intelligence through trusted relationships and effective systems,” he said.

Earlier, the Acting Director of the AUCTC, Mr Idriss Lallali, warned that terrorist cells with limited financial resources were exploiting affordable technologies to outpace government response mechanisms.

Lallali expressed concern that groups such as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Boko Haram and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) were extending their reach beyond physical territories.

He said the groups were using social media for recruitment, mobile money and cryptocurrencies to transfer funds, and the darknet to procure weapons.

He added that terrorists were also using drones to extend their operational capabilities across borders.

According to Lallali, the greatest challenges are not merely technological sophistication but also the speed and affordability of the tools available to extremist groups.

He explained that even a small terrorist cell could reach large audiences and execute operations faster than bureaucratic security systems could respond.

Lallali said African countries had varying capacities to counter such threats, creating gaps that deliberate training and stronger coordination could help address.

He stressed that targeted capacity-building initiatives were necessary to improve technical expertise and strengthen cooperation among African member states.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the UFL, Amb. Fatima Abdallah-Arasahi, represented by Mr Baba Keita, reaffirmed the unit’s commitment to regional counterterrorism cooperation.

Abdallah-Arasahi said the UFL was willing to work with regional partners to weaken terrorist networks and address their exploitation of information and communication technologies.

“The willingness to involve all our services demonstrates the interest that the UFL attaches to the selected theme,” she said.

She said the theme addressed the growing challenge posed by terrorist groups’ exploitation of information and communication technologies and emerging technologies.

“The UFL is ready to support all initiatives related to the concerns of its member services in the fight against terrorism and the strengthening of cooperation among regional mechanisms,” Keita said.

The training is expected to strengthen regional expertise and cooperation in identifying and disrupting terrorists’ use of digital platforms and emerging technologies. (NAN)