Business
Aluu 4:Monarch, Three Others Get Bail
General Manager, Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, Mr Celestine Ogolo (left), welcoming Prof. Winston Bellgam to the event.
The traditional ruler of Umuokiri Community in Aluu, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Alhaji Hassan Welewa and three other persons standing trial for allegedly killing four students of University of Port Harcourt, Choba last year has been granted bail by a Port Harcourt High Court.
Three accused persons also granted bail out of the 12 standing trial are Okoghroh Endurance, Ozioma Abajuo and Chigozie Evans Samuel who were arraigned as 10th, 11th and 12th accused persons in the matter.
The students who were allegedly killed by the accused persons at Umuokiri Aluu on October 5th, 2013 include, Ugonna Obuzor, Lloyd Toku Mike, Tekena Elkanah and Chiadika Biringa.
Ruling on the bail application of the 12 accused persons yesterday, the trial Judge, Justice Letan L. Nyordee said the charge before t he court was murder, negligence and felony, adding that while the murder charge carries capital punishment the carries two years jail term upon conviction.
According to him, the law does not give protection to denial of bail, adding that granting of bail is the prerogative of the court.
He averred that the charge of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd 4th, 5th, 6th 7th and 8th accused persons is murder and attracts capital punishment upon conviction stating that he can not exercise such powers to grant their bail application as sought by their counsels.
Justice Nyordee however granted the four accused persons bail to the one of N2 million each with two sureties on the ground that their charge were bailable and attracts two years jail terms upon conviction.
Sureties are to show evidence of landed property with certificate of occupancy (COS) within the jurisdiction of the court, show proof of last tax payment within two years, reside within the jurisdiction of the court and deposit two passport photograph, while the court registrar will verified the particulars of the sureties.
The trial judge also ruled on the admissibility of some documents such as photographs, negative films and video clips which was tendered by the state prosecuting counsels led by the solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice, Mr Rufus Godwin which ws tendered at the last sitting of the court.
The court ruled and accepted the photographs, negative films and CD in evidence which the court will use in the trial of the case the court adjourned the matter to the 31st October, 2013 to rule on an objection whether or not the video clip which was recorded and tendered by the prosecuting counsel as an evidence in the matter can be admitted by the court.
All the 12 accused persons were represented by their lawyers and were also brought to the court during the trial.
Although the proceeding of the court did not start early as scheduled without some hitches and moments of emotional feelings. At about 900am when the court was initially scheduled for the commencement of the trial, while the counsels who represented the accused persons and their relatives were in the court all the accused persons were yet to be brought to the court by the prison officials which force the court to rise for one hour before the accused persons could be brought to the court.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.