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Navy Arrests 30 Vessels For Illegal Activities
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas has said that no fewer than 30 vessels were seized by the Nigerian Navy in 2018 for various maritime crimes on the waterways
Vice Admiral Ibas, who spoke through the Naval Chief of Policy and Plans, Rear Admiral Beegroy Ibe-Enwo at a symposium organised as part of an ongoing joint sea exercise tagged ‘OBANGAME Express’, said the number of vessels arrested in 2018 was lower than the 37 and 45 arrests recorded in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
He noted that, “within the past three years, over 80 errant vessels have been arrested for various acts of illegality”
In a statement made available to The Tide, Ibok Ete Ibas said that MT TECNE and MT NIPAL were caught stealing crude oil from the crude oil loading facilities in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
“Suffice to state that the Nigerian Navy arrested a total of 30 vessels in 2018 for involvement in various forms of illegality in the nation’s maritime domain”.
“This indicates on the face value a downward trend when compared with 37 and 45 arrests recorded in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
“These arrests have served as deterrence and helped to support a more buoyant national economy. For instance, NNPC data indicate that crude oil losses from pipelines reduced from N51.28 billion in 2015 to N4.17 billion in 2017,” the Naval chief said.
Vice Admiral Ibas also said the Nigerian Navy, as at December 2018, handed over 247 maritime crime cases to prosecuting agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) of which 51 had been successfully prosecuted.
“The Nigerian Navy’s seamless collaboration with related agencies has helped to create effective deterrence to criminals through the arrest and prosecution of various criminals.
Ibas said that the Nigerian Navy and the Federal Department of Fisheries had concluded plans to acquire dedicated vessels to fight illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the country.
Acknowledging the worsening security situation in the Gulf of Guinea, Ibas noted that there is collaboration between the navy and maritime stakeholders in the country and regional forces to addressing the issues.
On the international front, the Naval Chief acknowledged the contributions of allied nations including the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and France for their support geared towards encouraging and bolstering domestic and regional collaboration in practical terms and on sustainable basis.
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.
