As reported by BBC two years ago:
A 2-year-old chilling documentary by BBC, ‘Black Axe’, is currently trending in Kenya, amid horrendous killings within a span of two weeks. The investigation went deep into giving details of Black Axe; a Nigerian student fraternity which evolved into a dreaded mafia-style gang tied to human trafficking, internet fraud and murder spanning the globe.
In Nigeria, Black Axe are referred to as a “cult,” a nod to their secret initiation rituals and the intense loyalty of their members. They are also infamous for extreme violence, with members referred to as ‘axemen’.
The findings by BBC then, suggested that over the past decade (2001 – 2021), Black Axe became one of the most far-reaching and dangerous organized crime groups in the world. According to the documentary, internet fraud is the primary source of revenue for the gang, and so extreme and mega are the digital scams that at one time, a Canadian company allegedly lost $5B to the gang.
As global as Black Axe’s criminal empire may be, its roots lie firmly in Nigeria. The group was founded 40 years ago in Benin City, Edo State. The gang’s secretive initiation process, known as “bamming,” is notoriously brutal.
Watch the ‘Black Axe’ full 50-minute documentary here, courtesy of BBC.
