CG Musa: Security agencies can now track ransom payments

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa (rtd.), says Nigeria’s security architecture is now equipped with improved capabilities to trace ransom payments made to kidnappers and terror groups across the country.

Speaking on Wednesday, Gen. Musa disclosed that enhanced intelligence tools and inter-agency coordination have strengthened efforts to follow the money trail used by criminal networks.

“We can track ransom payments,” the Defence Chief stated, emphasizing that financial surveillance has become a crucial part of counter-kidnapping and counter-terrorism operations.

According to him, security agencies are increasingly focusing on the financial channels used by criminal syndicates, including bank transfers, mobile transactions, cryptocurrency routes, and informal cash networks.

Gen. Musa noted that tracking ransom flows has already led to the disruption of several kidnap-for-ransom operations and the arrest of key collaborators who serve as financial couriers for criminal groups.

He added that as security forces intensify intelligence gathering, communities and victims are advised to report ransom-related demands or suspicious financial activities to aid investigations.

The Defence Chief reaffirmed the military’s commitment to dismantling kidnapping networks and their funding sources, stressing that “cutting off the money supply is one of the surest ways to weaken criminal groups and end the cycle of abductions.”