General
APC Blames Wike, PDP For Ken Atsuete’s Death
***Begs Buhari to intervene
By Dipo Olowookere
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state have been accused of having hands in the death of an activist lawyer, Mr Ken Atsuete, in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Monday.
Mr Atsuete was a strong opposition voice in the state before his gruesome murder yesterday.
Making the blame, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, in a statement, alleged that, “Governor Wike and his PDP gang of vampires in Rivers State have once again exhibited the only act of governance known to them by plotting the assassination of Barrister Ken Atsuete, a well-known fiery critic of Wike’s evil administration and defender of Rivers State APC.”
In the statement signed by the State APC Chairman, Dr Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, on Tuesday morning, the party said that, “Mr Atsuete, a renowned human rights activist who was one of the speakers at the just concluded conference of the Nigerian Bar Association held in Port Harcourt, must have been assassinated principally for his stoic stand against the evil administration of Wike in Rivers State.”
Rivers APC, which is the opposition party in the state, said further that, “The other reason why Barr Atsuete was killed was for his several petitions to the Inspector General of Police and to the Chief Justice of the Federation against the Chief Judge of Rivers State for being partisan by remanding his client Ojukaye Flag Amachree unjustly and wickedly.
“The other fact that may have triggered the killing of this harmless man was his live interview on Nigeria Info 92.3FM radio station, in which he revealed that Wike and his myopic and misguided legal team procured a fake court order on the release of Tai election result to deceive themselves and the general public.”
Rivers APC observed that “Wike right from the beginning has had serious phobia for the person of Barr. Atsuete’s client, the former Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Area, Ojukaye Flag Amachree, the prisoner of war in the hands of Wike and his misguided government whom Wike and his PDP are afraid that if he is released before the rerun elections, PDP will fail woefully based on his popularity among the youths in Rivers State. Their belief is that in order to keep him off the field, Barr Atsuete had to die.”
The party further said: “We have shouted ourselves hoarse that Wike is a bad omen for the Nigerian politics and that his forceful seizure of power is a bad omen for Rivers State since he is not interested in the peace and progress of the state and her people.
“We are aware that Wike and PDP are not interested in any peaceful election in Rivers State, hence they are doing everything within their powers to frustrate the peace in the state so as to ensure that the rerun elections never hold.”
Rivers APC lamented that over 200 of its members have been killed in less than two years by Wike and his misguided PDP in Rivers State, noting that “the strategy has changed, with the targets now being those defending the APC in Rivers State, after which the leaders of APC will be the next group to be destroyed by these vagabonds in power.”
The party regretted that Atsuete’s assassination came shortly after Governor Wike recently attended a security meeting in Abuja with the Inspector General of Police, Director of Directorate of State Service (DSS), and Rivers APC leaders, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, Senator Magnus Abe, Dr. Dakuku Peterside and Dr. Davies Ikanya. It recalled that Wike at that peace meeting promised that there would no longer be any political killings in Rivers State. “We will like to know from him how and why the harmless Atsuete was killed after this pledge,” Rivers APC said, adding: “He has at several fora recently stated that Rivers State under his watch is very safe, yet Rivers State people are kidnapped and killed on daily basis nobody seems to care.”
Turning its attention to the Federal authorities, the party said, We wish to remind President Buahri what he said on May 14, 2015 when a delegation from Rivers State led by former Deputy Governor of the state, Sir Gabriel Toby visited him where he assured the Rivers State people that his government will fish out and prosecute all those behind electoral violence and more than a year later, the political killings are getting worse in Rivers State. Wike and PDP killed to get power, now they are killing to retain it.
Mr, President during this meeting stated, “We will confront them with facts and figures. We will not forgive and forget those who perpetrated killings and arson in Rivers State during the elections. At least, this is the much we owe to Nigerians. There will not be an army within the army or a police within the police,” and today, Wike and PDP have become law to themselves.
“We will like to know what crime we have committed to leave us at the mercy of Wike and his gang of killers. How many of our people need to be killed before Rivers State is secured from the hands of this killer government operating in Rivers State?” It lamented that “nobody is safe anymore in Wike’s Rivers of blood as he recently granted amnesty to hardened criminals and granted them freedom to move freely without recovering their arms and ammunition to enable them ensure that Rivers State will never know peace. To sustain his war against Rivers people he has brought back the creek boys who were used to rig and maim Rivers people during the ill-fated 2015 elections to the streets to continue with their killing spree.”
Rivers APC declared that “Ken Atsuete’s lifeless body is currently lying at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital mortuary but the conscience of Wike and his gang will never have rest as his blood and all those so far murdered will never give them any respite in their miserable lives.”
The party once again urged President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfil his pledge that those behind the senseless killings in Rivers State will never go free but would be fished out and made to account for their atrocities.
By Adedapo Adesanya
M-KOPA, a pan African fintech company headquartered in the United Kingdom, has made the Financial Times’ Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies rankings for the fourth consecutive year.
M-KOPA, operating in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda, has reached over 6 million customers to date achieving an impressive CAGR of 42 per cent for the 2020-23 period.
The company has accelerated even faster since 2023, delivering over 65 per cent year-over-year revenue growth in 2024. M-KOPA is continuing on the same profitable growth path in 2025 and is trending to surpass half a billion USD in annual revenue this year.
According to a statement announcing the milestone, the firm said as fintech continues to scale across the African continent, it exemplifies how purpose-driven businesses with sound fundamentals can be both profitable and impactful by serving traditionally overlooked “unbanked” consumers.
“The company continues to be laser focused on financing progress for non-salaried every day earners, of which there will be over 1 billion adults across Africa by 2040,” it said.
M-KOPA finances smartphones to everyday earners (with more than half its customers accessing the internet for the first time) and then delivers tailored mobile financial services through the device.
M-KOPA’s smart money platform has now issued millions of affordable credit, insurance, and subscription products. Its positive impact is independently measured by third party verification experts with the results published annually on the company website www.m-kopa.com/impact
In 2023, M-KOPA opened East Africa’s first and largest smartphone assembly factory, which is now producing over 1m smartphones annually and has created over 300 new jobs.
The next year, it then introduced its own range of branded smartphones which now account for over 20 per cent of all smartphones sold in Kenya.
In 2025, the organisation continued its pan African expansion and now acquires more customers outside of Kenya than in, with fast customer growth across Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and South Africa.
Commenting on the recognition, Mr Jesse Moore, CEO and Co-Founder of M-KOPA said: “We are thrilled to make the FT Fastest Growing Companies in Africa list for the 4th year in a row. Our growth continues to accelerate, and we now onboard a new customer to M-KOPA every 9 seconds.
“Thanks to Africa’s digital payment rails, we now receive 15 payments per second, which in turn creates a unique and deep dataset to understand the financial needs of everyday earners. We are still in the early stages of scaling, with an addressable market that will surpass 1 billion people in Africa by 2040.”
Business Post reports that six Nigerian startups, including Moniepoint, PalmPay, Paga, OmniRetail, Remedial Health, and Termii, made the list.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has sealed the premises of an entity operating under the name Community Crime Prevention Initiative of Nigeria (CCPIN) in Aba, Abia state.
In a statement on Thursday, Mr Ondaje Ijagwu, FCCPC’s director of corporate affairs, said the enforcement operation took place on Wednesday at Number 214 Aba-Owerri Road, in collaboration with law enforcement agents.
Mr Ijagwu said FCCPC’s action followed credible intelligence that CCPIN was falsely claiming affiliation with the commission and misleading the public by representing itself as an “authorised consumer protection NGO”.
“The entity had issued public notices alleging joint surveillance operations with FCCPC and was soliciting consumer complaints through unauthorised telephone lines,” the statement reads.
“During the operation, the operator of the facility, Dr Onwuka K. Okorie, was arrested on-site and is currently in police custody at World Bank Police Station, Abayi-Aba, Abia State, pending further investigation and prosecution.
“A number of exhibits bearing FCCPC’s name, logo, and false enforcement materials were recovered from the premises.”
The official said the commission has no affiliation with CCPIN and does not authorise or partner with the group or any similarly styled organisation for enforcement or consumer protection operations.
He added that FCCPC does not delegate such enforcement powers to NGOs, private entities, or individuals without formal legal authorisation.
Mr Ijagwu advised the public to disregard any announcements, sealing notices, or consumer-related campaigns issued by CCPIN or its representatives.
“To verify any enforcement or communication, members of the public can contact the Commission through its hotlines: 08056002020 and 08056003030. Official FCCPC activities and communications can also be verified via fccpc.gov.ng or social media handles (@fccpcnigeria),” he added.
The recognised consumer protection body also reaffirmed its commitment to operating with the highest level of transparency while ensuring consumer protection and market integrity.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder has dismantled nine illegal refining sites in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, seizing over 170,000 litres of suspected stolen and illegally refined petroleum products.
This is the latest in a long series of efforts to curb oil theft hampering crude oil production and economic growth in Africa’s largest oil producer.
The operation, carried out yesterday (Wednesday) uncovered a sprawling network of criminal infrastructure, including 45 ovens, 30 reservoirs, and 75 dugout pits, according to Commodore Cajethan Nnabuchi Aniaku, Commander of NNS Pathfinder.
He revealed that the illegal sites were stocked with approximately 60,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil, 80,000 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel, and 33,000 litres of kerosene.
He said, “During the operation, the Tactical Riverine Assault Squadron Team acting on credible intelligence discovered two wellheads connected with pipes used for siphoning crude oil to illegal camps.
“The team dismantled the connected pipes to the wellheads and destroyed the illegal refining sites. The products were handled in accordance with anti-crude oil theft procedures,” he added.
The outfit could not make any arrests as the perpetrators fled on sighting the patrol team, the scale of the seizure underscores the magnitude of oil theft operations still active in the Niger Delta.
Commodore Aniaku praised the bravery and professionalism of the personnel involved and reaffirmed the Navy’s unwavering resolve to stamp out economic sabotage.
“Under the leadership of Vice Admiral E. I. Ogalla, the Nigerian Navy remains committed to combating crude oil theft and illegal bunkering activities which pose significant threats to the nation’s economy and energy security,” he stated.
The latest crackdown comes as the Navy intensifies its riverine operations across the oil-rich region, aligning with national efforts to boost crude production and plug revenue leakages caused by pipeline vandalism and illegal refining.
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