Nigeria, Feb. 11 -- Terrorists now use social media to communicate, recruit new followers, and commit crimes, the minister of communication and digital economy, Isa Pantami, has said.

Mr Pantami on Tuesday in Abuja said terrorists are "exploiting social media, encrypted communications, and the dark web to spread propaganda, recruit new followers and coordinate attacks".

He noted that "the rapidly evolving phenomenon" requires the use of innovative approaches to both 'counter' and 'prevent' terrorism.

The Islamic State of Iran and ISIL famously used Twitter for this purpose in 2014 and 2015.

Organizations like ISIL usually recruit en masse through the route of social media.

Meanwhile, Mr Pantami said "the development of new and emergi...