Black Axe Confraternity: How a campus cult became an international crime mafia

Black Axe members are primarily recruited during university education. They engage in fraud, trafficking, prostitution, and killing operations globally.

Interpol’s 2022 report states that Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud and other serious crimes.

Cybercrime, or Yahoo, as it is popularly referred to in Nigeria, is its primary revenue source.

Since 2022, BBC reports that numerous “jackal” police operations have arrested and seized electronic devices of Black Axe members, enabling Interpol to create a vast intelligence database shared with officers in its 196 member countries.

Ondrej Havelka, a traveler, religionist and theologian from the Czech Republic wrote about the initiation process.

According to him, members swear an oath to the god Korofo during a harsh initiation ritual that includes beatings, torture, and rape.

Using these strategies, they promise loyalty to the sect. After the initiation, the high priest places an axe on the initiate’s head and gives them a new name, which is usually a historical fighter against colonialists.

A wild drunken party ensues, involving loud singing and dancing.

Black axe cultists in Nigeria are divided into three categories based on hierarchy: butchers, who engage in killing, protection, murder, and violence; high priests, who are the leaders; and eyes, who work as spies.

Not much is known about Korofo, the god they worship and sing about. However, they claim he directs their brutality and slaughter.

They also use charms from other traditional Nigerian religions and claim to kill primarily for freedom and justice.

This group is turning into a massive mafia that has gotten the attention of Interpol.

According to the BBC, police units all over the world have began Operation Jackal III, a covert operation targeting what they believe to be West Africa’s feared criminal network, Black Axe.

The operation, coordinated by Interpol involved officers in body armour carrying out raids in 21 countries between April and July 2024.

The operation resulted in the arrest of 300 people with links to Black Axe and other affiliated groups.

Interpol deemed the operation a “major blow” to the Nigerian crime network but warned that its international reach and technological sophistication make it a global threat.

In 2017, Canadian authorities busted a money-laundering scheme linked to Black Axe worth over $5 billion. The operation, which was years in the making, led to the seizure of $3 million of illegal assets and over 700 bank accounts being frozen.

Interestingly, to many people in Nigeria, the Black Axe Confraternity is just a social gathering of people with like minds devoid of any criminality.