The ‘Black Axe’ gang is a decades-old crime syndicate in Nigeria, with reach spanning far outside of the borders of the country. Lauded as one of the deadliest gangs in the world, new information has surfaced regarding the secretive group for the first time ever.
The syndicate’s extensive fraud and scamming operations are expected to have raked in upwards of $5 billion across the gang’s lifetime, with individual scams netting multiple millions of dollars.
The Black Axe is believed to have ties to a number of prolific politicians across the Edo state. Depending on who you ask, the number of politicians with ties to the Black Axe ranges from single to double digits.
In its recent article, the BBC has levelled allegations towards the Neo-Black Movement of Africa (NBM) regarding their supposed involvement with the Black Axe. The NBM is an organisation that outlines their beliefs as follows:
“The Neo-Black movement is a socio-cultural organisation that sincerely seek to revive, retain and modify where necessary those aspects of African culture.”
The NBM fervently denies the BBC’s claims, threatening legal action against the corporation should they not retract their statement. The NBM Twitter account posted on 20th December, dubbing the BBC article as ‘libelous’:
Nigerian citizens are likely aware of the Black Axe cult for their political involvement, however, the Black Axe also has a long history of gruesome street-level crime.
The BBC documentary published alongside their findings detail much of these findings, with a warning for violent imagery attached:
The gang’s criminal operations are thought to extend past the limits of Nigeria, where they’re based. Documentation has been found linking the syndicate’s operations to others across the world, increasing the scope of such schemes from what was previously considered.
According to the BBC, Lagos, London, and Dubai are amongst the other locations implicated in such operations.
