Spain arrests 34 Black Axe cultists linked to Nigeria

By Omolade Adegbuyi

The Spanish authority has arrested 34 members of the Black Axe in a crack down by the European country. The cross border arrested took place in Spain and Germany at the weekend. Irohinoodua sources claimed that the European Governments are worried about the recruitment of Europeans into the Black Axe,a cult group which began at the University of. Benin in 1977.

Irohinoodua was informed that during crackdown against the ‘Black Axe’ , the 34 people were arrested for various criminal offences.

The Spanish authority described the Black Axe as a “Criminal network engaged in a multitude of criminal activities”

The Black Axe began in Nigeria and today had branches in many African and European countries where the cult is linked to high level crimes, fraud and others forms of criminal activities.

Ten of the 34 suspects were Nigerians.

The Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional), worked in close cooperation with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (Bayerisches Landeskriminalamt) and with the backing of Europol.

The security operatives launched the operation against the international criminal organisation ‘Black Axe’.

The 34 arrests are being held. Police said the arrest broke the chain of communications of the criminal cartel.

Europol.dscribed the Black Axe as a “highly structured, hierarchical group with its origins in Nigeria and a global presence in dozens of countries. The core group of arrested suspects consists of 10 individuals of Nigerian nationality.”

It said the Black Axe runs a criminal network and its known for “its involvement in a wide range of criminal activities, including cyber-enabled fraud, drug trafficking, human trafficking and prostitution, kidnapping, armed robbery and fraudulent spiritual practices.”

Spanish authorities learn that the Black Axe annual criminal proceeds are in billions of euros, “generated through many small-scale operations that collectively have a significant impact.”

Of the 34 arrested 28 of them were picked from Seville, while three were arrested in Madrid, two in Málaga and one in Barcelona.

Sources told Irohinoodua that the criminal network is responsible for fraud resulting in damages exceeding EUR 5.93 million. Over the course of the operation, authorities have frozen EUR 119 352 in bank accounts and seized EUR 66 403 in cash during house searches.

Europol said “the cross-border collaboration between Germany and Spain included Spanish investigators receiving analytical support, the exchange of intelligence, and the deployment of two German officers on-site during the action day. The operation targeted the core group of the organised crime network, which recruits money mules in impoverished areas with high unemployment rates. Most of these vulnerable individuals are of Spanish nationality and are exploited to facilitate the network’s criminal activities.”

This operation was supported by Europol through a range of services, including information analysis, a data sprint held in Madrid, and on-the-spot support. Europol has been instrumental in mapping the group’s structure across countries, centralising information, sharing relevant intelligence packages, and supporting coordinated national investigations. This strategy aims to disrupt the group’s operations and seize assets, addressing the challenges posed by the group’s dispersed small cases, cross-border activity, and the blurring of crimes into ‘ordinary’ local offences.
Europol said the
Black Axe, “formally linked to the Neo-Black Movement of Africa, is a highly structured, hierarchical group with a global presence. It divides its territory into approximately 60 zones in Nigeria and 35 abroad, with about 200 members per zone. In total, the organisation has roughly 30 000 registered members, and countless affiliated individuals such as money mules and facilitators. The group enforces strict codes of conduct, violent and ritualistic initiations, and spiritual practices.”

Black Axe was established on July 7, 1977. Initially it embraced Black Nationalism but later appeared to have been hijacked by the military in the early 1990s with many recruited to attack progressive students formations in Nigerian Universities.

It began at the University of Benin.

The core group was led by Nicholas Idemudia.

The group also initially held to the idea of Neo Black Movement of Africa (NBM), with primary focal point on “intellectual radicalism in pursuit of Pan-African struggles.”

The group was supported by M. Angulu Onwuejiogwu, a Professor of history and anthropology at the University of Benin.

The founders of Black Axe were: Marvel Akpoyibo
Uche Alumona
Tokunbo Brown
Gbolahom Dosunmu
Godwin Ehigiator
Nicholas Idemudia
Bernard Ojishua
Olagungu Ojo
John Okogie