Police operatives on Tuesday raided the office of Kings Communications Limited, publishers of MMS Plus newspaper, over a featured story exposing alleged corruption and debts in the Dangote refinery.

The management of the media outlet reported that the policemen arrested and whisked away the Editor-in-Chief, Kingsley Anaroke, and Editor of MMS Plus, Kenneth Jukpor, over a published report on the possible takeover of the Dangote refinery by AMCON owing to increasing debts.

Peoples Gazette reported that the raid was at the behest of Dangote refinery spokesman who resorted to the use of force and harrassment after he allegedly failed to get the newspaper to pull down the story.

“After several failed attempts to get the Editor to pull down the story, the Dangote spokesman instead of issuing a rejoinder or the legal action which he threatened against our media house, has resorted to bullying by sending four policemen to besiege the headquarters of Kings Communications Limited in Festac, Lagos since 7:00 am,” the report states.

The original report ‘AMCON May Take Over Dangote Refinery As Liabilities Swell’, reported on Sunday, said Dangote Group’s debt profile was set to hit $8.4billion by 2025.

It also stated that the company debt is currently at about $7 billion, with $700 million per annum set for debt servicing.

Recall that the refinery is projected to begin operations in 2025, though its completion date has been moved eight times.

There are also reports that the federal government may have stepped in to ease founder Aliko Dangote’s financial woes.

Last week, the Federal Executive Council approved the acquisition of 20 per cent minority stakes ($2.76 billion) by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the Dangote Refinery project.

The Dangote Group has been working on the facility, set to carry about 10.4 million tonnes in petrol refining capacity per year.

In February, the Dangote Group is said to have proposed a provision in the now-passed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that would have banned the importation of oil by other companies who were without refining licenses.

It was also recommended that the volume of imported fuel should be distributed in line with the production capacity of the other refineries.