Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has institutionalized a payment system that rewards fighters with cash for capturing military equipment during attacks on Nigerian and regional bases, according to new research from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). Published by Premium Times, the report details how the Islamic State funds these payments through a fixed price list that assigns specific values to weapons, ammunition, and vehicles. This financial mechanism supplements the group’s ideological foundation and explains its shift from opportunistic ambushes to targeted strikes on military stockpiles.
The ISS documented that ISWAP’s finance department accounts for spoils, known as ghanimah, retaining one-third of the total value while distributing the remainder to participating fighters. An AK-47 yields $750, a rocket-propelled grenade $1,000, and a pickup truck fitted with a heavy weapon $30,000. These sums are paid in naira and represent significant income in the Lake Chad Basin, where monthly minimum wages range from $53 to $108 across Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger. Ex-fighters told the ISS that this pricing system helps attract and retain members, particularly those recruited through coercion or economic necessity, when faith alone is insufficient.
This structured approach contrasts sharply with the rival Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction, which primarily targets civilians and engages in direct predation. ISWAP strictly regulates weapons and forbids its fighters from robbing civilians, a discipline that limits their opportunity for such crimes but also shapes their relationship with local communities. The ISS noted that this income mechanism determines how each faction relates to civilians, ultimately influencing which group can sustain community cooperation. In addition to spoils, ISWAP pays some fighters a salary of ₦75,000, slightly above Nigeria’s national minimum wage of ₦70,000.
The funding follows an identifiable geographic corridor, with the Islamic State transferring money through Dubai to Kano in Northwest Nigeria or N’Djamena in Chad via currency exchange networks. Local couriers then transport the cash to island hideouts. The United States designated Nigerian currency exchange operator Mukhtar Muhammad and his firms in June 2026 for facilitating these transfers. Previous sanctions in 2022 targeted individuals convicted in the UAE for moving funds to Boko Haram. The ISS emphasized that strengthening military bases and monitoring financial intelligence units along these corridors are essential to disrupting the payment mechanism and weakening the group’s resilience against leadership losses.