DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Technology

OPay takes legal action over shutdown rumors

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • OPay says it has begun legal action against individuals and groups accused of spreading false claims that it would shut down in Nigeria.
  • The company says it involved the Department of State Services and Nigeria Police Force, while one related case is already before a court.
  • OPay executives told customers and merchants that all services remain operational and urged them to ignore unverified social media messages.

OPay says it is taking legal action against those behind viral claims that the fintech would shut down in Nigeria, calling the rumor a deliberate attempt to spread harmful misinformation.

OPay is taking legal action against those responsible for deliberately creating and circulating this callous information. We will pursue them, and we will ensure that the law takes its full course; there will be no impunity.

— Akinfolabi RokosuOPay’s chief legal counsel announced legal action against those accused of spreading the shutdown rumor.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, Chief Legal Counsel Akinfolabi Rokosu said the company had involved the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force to identify the people responsible. He said one related case was already active in court.

“OPay is taking legal action against those responsible for deliberately creating and circulating this callous information. We will pursue them, and we will ensure that the law takes its full course; there will be no impunity,” Rokosu said. He added that the action was intended to promote accountability and protect customers, rather than silence criticism. The Central Bank of Nigeria, he said, had classified the viral claims as fake news.

This is not about silencing anyone, but it is about accountability, customer protection, and respect for the rule of law.

— Akinfolabi RokosuRokosu explained the company’s stated purpose in pursuing the case.

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer Dotun Adekunle said the notice falsely claimed that OPay would stop operating on September 1. “OPay is here, OPay is operating, and OPay is going nowhere,” he said. Adekunle urged consumers, merchants and banking partners to remain calm, warning that copied logos and convincing-looking documents can still carry false information.

OPay is here, OPay is operating, and OPay is going nowhere.

— Dotun AdekunleThe company’s chief operating and technology officer reassured customers that services remained active.

OPay holds a Mobile Money Operator licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria and serves more than 30 million users, as well as millions of merchants across the country. The company’s response comes as Nigeria’s fintech sector faces tighter anti-money-laundering controls and compliance oversight, conditions that have heightened sensitivity to rumors about account freezes and shutdowns.

A message can look official and still be completely false. A logo can be copied, and a document can be designed to look convincing, but false is false no matter how many times it is shared.

— Dotun AdekunleAdekunle urged the public to disregard unverified social media notices.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog