Business
Navy Cotinue Crackdown On Illegal Refineries In Delta
The Nigerian Navy has advised illegal refinery operators to desist from the illicit business, saying there will be no more hiding place for them.
The Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, gave the advice in Uobodede creek in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta yesterday.
Dewu urged the operators to follow proper channel and key into the Federal Government’s modular refinery initiative when it would come on board.
The commander spoke with newsmen shortly after the Navy had used Swamp buggies to crush a large span of illegal refineries site including their equipment in Uobodede Creek.
He commenced the use of Swamp buggies to crush illegal refineries on March 28, and the crackdown was expected to last for about one week.
Dewu said that the modular refinery policy of the government would go a long way in addressing the numerous illegal refineries that spread across the creeks of the Niger Delta region.
“The modular refinery that the Federal Government is trying to adopt is a welcome development.
“It will help us and help the illegal refineries owners, if they are sincere they will apply through the right channel to operate modular refinery.
“I think it will also reduce the number of illegal refineries we have in this area.
“They should desist from these illegalities because we are ready to crush all the illegal refineries in the Warri creeks in this exercise,” he said.
The Naval commander said that most of the equipment used by the criminals were heat resistance, adding that it was always easy for them to make use of the equipment after they had been set ablaze with the content.
“We have been carrying out operation to destroy illegal refineries and after two or three days because the materials they used are heat resistance, they come back to resuscitate the illegal refineries.
“For instance, this one that is being destroyed today, we were here two or three weeks ago to burn everything down after a week they came back and resuscitated everything.
“So, the use of Swamp buggies will bring a lasting solution to the illegal refineries by crushing and dismantling all their equipment because it will not be easy for them to start afresh,” he said.
The commodore said that the command would sustain its fight against illegal refineries with the use of Swamp buggies to crush and dismantled their facilities.
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.
