Business
NNS Pathfinder Arrests 18 Oil Theft Suspects
No fewer than 18 suspected illegal oil bunkers, speciliased in stealing crude oil from Niger Delta and sending same to Ghana, have been arrested by the Nigerian Navy ship, NNS pathfinder.
While handing the 18 suspects over to the Nigeria Police, Rivers State Command, Wednesday, the Executive Officer, NNS Pathfinder, Captain Adegoke Ebo, revealed that the leader of the team and Managing Director, (MD) Progress Incorporation, Osimili Adah were among those arrested and have since provided useful information to the security agencies.
Captain Ebo noted that two other vessels, MT APECUS and MT INVICTUS, used by the suspects for illegal activities were also impounded during the exercise.
According to him, the arrests were made based on a tip off on the kidnap of five foreign nationals and two Nigerians four weeks ago.
He said, “the arrest was premised on the knowledge that the suspects had credible information on the pirate attack reported on board MT APECUS on the 19th of April 2019 where five Indians and two Nigerians were abducted and taken away to an unknown creek in Bayelsa.
All these point to a suspected illegal activities as our preliminary investigations and self-confession by Mr Osimili Adah revealed that he’s been actively involved in souring stolen crude oil from Nigerian Creeks to Platinum Gas Oil Refinery in Tema, Ghana.’’
Captain Ebo also disclosed that the MT APECUS has been engaged in illegal activities in Nigeria since 2019 without formal authorization, under different names and flags over the years.
‘ ‘It was found that the vessel has changed name and the flag under which she operates no fewer than 15 instances. He attested to his involvement in the alleged economic and maritime related crimes and evidence available to us suggests that illicit crimes have been going on for a while. We have the names of facilities and accomplices. The suspects have just given the Nigerian Navy substantial information as well as evidence”
Tonye Nria-Dappa
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.
