General News
Boko Haram Beheads Nigerian Military Pilot

Boko Haram, dreaded Islamist sect, has beheaded a man believed to be one of the pilots of the Nigerian Air Force jet which went missing and later crashed earlier on September 11 after it left Yola, capital of Adamawa State, for a bombing campaign against the militants.
A new footage released by the sect and obtained by AP, showed a man decked in a camouflage vest kneeling while an axe-wielding fighter stands menacingly next to him before eventually chopping off his head.
Moments before the gruesome execution, the victim who spoke in English and identified himself as a wing commander in the Nigerian Air Force, revealed that they were undertaking a mission in the Kauri area of Borno State on September 11 when the plane suddenly crashed to the ground.
“We were shot down and our aircraft crashed. To this day I don’t know the whereabouts of my second pilot,” he said.
Abubakar Shekau, leader of the group who military forces claimed to have killed first in 2009, later 2013 and recently a few days ago, was also seen in the latest video, according to the AP, said the sect had downed about 10 military aircraft so far – a position the Nigerian soldiers openly disagreed with.
Defence Headquarters has insisted Shekau is dead and said the video showing that the terrorist was alive could have been manipulated.
This claim was obtained from a statement the Defence Headquarters posted on its website on Friday, a day after Shekau released a video claiming that he was still alive.
The Defence Headquarters said there was no proof which indicated that the video was genuine.
It said the Nigerian Airforce jet that the Boko Haram claimed to have shot down had been missing before he was killed. It said that the dead Shekau could not have resurrected.
The Defence Headquarters said, “From immediate observation and what some online news outlets claimed to have seen, the video did not indicate when it was shot neither did it show any proof of life or currency such as screen time or date. The video also did not make any reference to anything that has happened since the impostor’s reported death.
“It is also noteworthy that the air plane said to be mentioned in the video had been missing before he was killed. It should not surprise anybody if the terrorists decide to manipulate pictures, clone another Shekau or upload a pre-recorded video all in a bid to prove invincible.
“As far as we are concerned, the individual who was appearing in video and claiming to be the leader of the terrorist group was killed in the Kondunga battle in September. The resemblance of the corpse and that of the eccentric character was incontrovertible. His identity was equally corroborated by people who knew him before we announced his death.”
Shekau had earlier described as “propaganda” the claim by the Defence Headquarters that he was killed early September in Kodunga, Borno State.
He had claimed in the 36-minute video that Boko Haram fighters shot down the Nigerian Air Force fighter jet which was reported missing three weeks ago.
In the video, Shekau stands in front of three camouflaged vans, flanked by four heavily armed and masked fighters.
He said, “I hereby put to lie the claim that I was killed. Here I am alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath. I challenge you (military), I challenge you. You even said I was killed. If you killed me, does that mean you killed (the) religion? You are not honest. You have no proof, you have nothing to say.”
General News
Moniepoint Marks 10 Years of Transforming Nigerian Businesses

Moniepoint Inc., Nigeria’s definitive platform for small businesses and Africa’s all-in-one financial ecosystem, today released its 2025 Year in Review, marking a decade of “financial happiness” and a transformative year of growth.

Moniepoint
Highlighting its role as the backbone of Nigeria’s entrepreneurial economy with over 6 million active businesses, the company revealed that its microfinance bank has now disbursed over ₦1 trillion in credit to thousands of businesses from provision stores and supermarkets to building materials sellers.
It is worthy to note that on average these businesses experienced growth by more than 36% after accessing credit, signposting its primacy as a transformational growth level and instrument of deepening shared prosperity.
Moniepoint uses alternative data points that include transaction histories, business patterns and payment behaviours in a bid to accommodate what traditional credit scoring misses to drive financial inclusion and access to credit.
The company’s 2025 performance reinforces its role as a critical financial infrastructure which not only supports the Nigerian economy, but also impacts everyday lives, creating immense value.
Founded in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike, Moniepoint Inc (formerly known as TeamApt Inc) has established itself as the leading financial platform for Nigeria’s vast network of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), offering an integrated suite of services, including digital payments, business bank accounts, credit, foreign exchange (FX), and management tools.
During the year, as Nigeria’s largest merchant acquirer, now powering 8 out of every 10 in-person payments made across the country, Moniepoint MFB, the banking and payments subsidiary, processed ₦412 trillion in transaction value handling more than 14 billion transactions. This clearly suggests that Moniepoint is well-positioned to play a greater role in Nigeria’s steady march towards a trillion dollar economy by 2030.
“Our journey has been one of intentional evolution,” said Tosin Eniolorunda, Group CEO and Founder of Moniepoint Inc. “What started as a passion to solve overlooked problems has evolved into a platform powering the dreams of millions.
“As 83% of employment in Africa exists in the informal economy, our mission to create financial happiness is an operational mandate that guides our product development, our market expansion, and our capital allocation decisions.”
Beaming with enthusiasm, Eniolorunda continues, “Yet for all we have accomplished, we approach our second decade with the clarity that our work remains unfinished.
“As we enter this next chapter, we do so with strengthened conviction in our strategy, deepened partnerships with world-class institutional investors, and an organisation scaled to deliver on Africa’s entrepreneurial potential.
“The infrastructure we have built over the past decade provides the foundation. The journey is far from over, but our resolve has never been stronger. To our partners, our customers, and our team: thank you for a decade of impact. We are just getting started.”
In 2025, Moniepoint Inc. reached a series of critical inflexion points, highlighted by the successful completion of its Series C funding round, which raised over $200 million in equity financing from leading institutional investors, including Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Visa, the International Finance Corporation, and Verod Capital.
The year also marked the launch of MonieWorld in the United Kingdom, extending Moniepoint’s platform to serve the African diaspora by strengthening key remittance corridors and laying the foundation for the delivery of comprehensive cross-border financial services.
Moniepoint MFB re-launched its savings product in a firm demonstration of the company’s commitment toward its’ oft stated mantra of providing financial happiness. Data reveals in terms of savings behavioral patterns, the majority of users choose to save on a daily basis, with focus across business operations (24%), rent (16.5%), and education (10%) representing top savings priorities.
The launch of Moniebook and the acquisition of a national Microfinance Bank license for Moniepoint MFB further expand the company’s regulated capabilities and product depth.
TeamApt Ltd, the switching and processing subsidiary of Moniepoint Inc., also achieved major regulatory and operational milestones in 2025 that have solidified its position in the global payments landscape. After a rigorous certification process, the company successfully secured licenses from Mastercard and Visa to act as a processor and acquirer for these global card schemes..
This strategic move allows TeamApt to support international card payments directly and offer these critical switching services to other businesses across the continent.
Monnify, the web payment gateway processed N25 trillion in the period under review, demonstrating remarkable resilience and industry confidence firmly positioning it for more business-to-business transactions.
Moniepoint’s impact extended beyond banking into critical social interventions even as the company partnered with the Federal Government to support the Rice Intervention Programme, reaching nearly 850,000 beneficiaries, and worked with the Kaduna State Government in grants disbursement to vulnerable citizens.
Through these initiatives, Moniepoint continues to build the infrastructure required to unlock Africa’s entrepreneurial potential, positioning itself as a trusted partner for the delivery of large-scale economic empowerment programmes.
As Moniepoint Inc. enters its second decade, its well chronicled decade-long evolution from a backend technology provider to a household name, directly complements the Nigerian government’s vision of a more inclusive, data-driven, and productive financial landscape. To read more about the 2025 Year in Review Report:, visit http://2025.moniepoint.com
General News
Paradigm Initiative Hails New Data Protection Laws as World Marks Privacy Week

As the world observes Data Privacy Week under the theme “Take Control of Your Data,” Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has commended countries that enacted or strengthened data protection laws in the past year to protect citizens’ privacy rights.

PIN
The week marks the January 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first international treaty on data privacy and protection.
PIN spotlighted Djibouti, The Gambia, and Burundi for passing data protection laws in June, September 2025, and January 2026, respectively. It also recognised Botswana, whose law took effect in January 2025, and Algeria, which amended its legislation in July 2025 to mandate Data Protection Officers.
“We applaud these strides,” PIN said, urging data protection authorities across Africa to prioritise implementation and enforcement to uphold data subjects’ rights.
In Nigeria, PIN’s advocacy has yielded key wins. In 2024, it challenged unauthorised websites selling sensitive personal and financial data of Nigerians for as low as N100. Strategic litigation forced United Bank for Africa (UBA) PLC to pay N8 million to customer Miss Folashade Molehin for unlawfully opening a domiciliary account without her consent.
In 2025, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled against Domino’s Pizza (operated by Eat’n’Go), awarding Chukwunweike Araka Akosa N3 million for unsolicited direct marketing via his phone. The court deemed it a violation of Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and Sections 25 and 26 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023. The case originated via PIN’s Ripoti platform, which documents and redresses digital rights abuses across Africa, offering pro-bono legal aid.
Yet challenges persist. PIN warned that countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, South Sudan, Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, and Western Sahara lack robust laws, exposing citizens to grave privacy risks.
It called on Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and Libya to urgently enact data protection frameworks.
General News
MTN Group Names Shoyinka Shodunke IT Core Design Executive Ahead of March 2026

MTN Group has announced the appointment of Shoyinka Shodunke as Executive: IT Core Design and Delivery, effective 1 March 2026.

Shoyinka Shodunke
Shoyinka brings more than 29 years of experience in technology leadership, digital transformation and innovation across Africa’s telecommunications sector.
His career spans several senior roles, including Director of Technology at Vodafone Ghana, Chief Technology and Information Officer (CTIO) at MTN Cameroon, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at MTN Zambia, and General Manager: Architecture for the MTN Shared Services Hub in Southeast Africa.
He currently serves concurrently as CIO for MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa, where he has led large-scale digital initiatives impacting more than 80 million subscribers and overseen a technology ecosystem comprising over 350 professionals.
Shoyinka is recognised for a leadership approach anchored in adaptive intelligence, resilient system design and collaborative value creation.
His work has focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance human creativity, strengthen system resilience and drive innovation at scale.
In 2025, he was named MTN Group CIO of the Year for his role in advancing one of Africa’s most ambitious digital transformations, supporting MTN’s evolution from a traditional telecommunications operator into an AI-enabled technology organisation.
He also received the Tech Champion in Telecoms and CIO of the Year awards at the CIO and C-Suite Awards Africa.
His academic background includes an Advanced Management Programme (AMP) at Harvard Business School, an MBA from the University of Northampton, a Postgraduate Diploma in Global Management from the University of Salford Manchester, and a Bachelor of Technology in Mathematics and Statistics from the Federal University of Technology in Nigeria.
In his new role, Shoyinka will lead the development and execution of standardised and AI-enhanced IT architectures across MTN’s footprint.
His responsibilities will include integrating AI-driven automation, predictive analytics and digital transformation initiatives to improve customer experience, operational efficiency and service agility, while accelerating innovation cycles and time-to-market.
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