An Original Investigation into the Mechanisms of Insurgent Financing in the Lake Chad Basin Region

Insurgent organisations in the Lake Chad Basin, including Boko Haram and ISWAP, have demonstrated remarkable financial resilience despite military pressure, and an original investigation into their financing mechanisms, financial system exploitation, and interdiction vulnerabilities represents a critical contribution to counter-terrorism scholarship. This study conducted an original investigation into insurgent financing mechanisms in the Lake Chad Basin, with primary focus on operations affecting Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States from 2018 to 2023. A multi-method intelligence-informed research design was employed, combining systematic analysis of FATF, GIABA, and published intelligence community typology reports on Nigerian terrorist financing, structured interviews with 20 counter-terrorism financial investigators and 8 security scholars with field access, and satellite imagery-assisted mapping of insurgent economic activity zones. The investigation identified nine financing mechanism categories, of which cattle economy exploitation, community taxation under territorial control, humanitarian aid diversion, and cryptocurrency micro-fundraising had not been adequately theorised in existing scholarship. An original Insurgent Financial Resilience Model was developed, proposing that ISWAP's financial durability is explained by three architectural features: geographic diversification of income sources across basin states, deliberate exploitation of the informal economy beyond formal financial system detection, and investment in community legitimacy through service provision that simultaneously generates taxation revenue and political support. Expert review by 18 counter-terrorism financing specialists confirmed the model's original contribution. The study recommends informal economy financial intelligence integration as the primary counter-terrorism financing strategy.

Keywords: insurgent financing, Lake Chad Basin, Boko Haram, ISWAP, counter-terrorism financing