A Nigerian man has gone viral after he chose to spend a year in prison after spending part of N1.5 billion that was accidentally sent to him.

If you’ve ever had money accidentally drop into an account, be it a bank account, savings, or even PayPal, it can cause a fair amount of stress.

You’re better off returning it than holding onto it.

However, Ojo Eghosa Kingsley decided to spend the money after it dropped into his account.

Kingsley, however, didn’t just receive a small chunk of change.

According to the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he received N1.5 billion into his account, which is around $1.1 million dollars.

As per the police’s report, the money had been split into different accounts, some in the name of Kingsley himself, and others belonging to his mother and sister.

After entering a guilty plea, he was offered a one-year prison sentence or a fine of N5 million – around $35,000.

Kingsley chose to spend a year in prison over the erroneously accredited money, also promising to “be of good behaviour going forward.” He was ultimately charged with “one count of bordering on stealing” by the EFCC.

He was also ordered to return the money, in which prosecutors noted that he had spent some of it already – as well as transferring it through different accounts.

The bank had managed to recover almost the full amount, save for a few thousand Naira.

Kingsley’s story has gone viral on social media, with many jokingly agreeing that they’d do the same thing if such a large sum ended up in their bank account.

Credit: ww.dexerto.com

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued warnings regarding the activities of AURUM BOT and ModMount Services Limited.

The apex regulator of the capital market flagged both entities for operating without the necessary legal licenses and for exhibiting high-risk characteristics typically associated with fraudulent Ponzi schemes.

This SEC’s newest move in 2026 is part of the regulator’s broader crackdown on unregistered digital asset platforms that lure retail investors through social media with promises of “guaranteed” or “unrealistically high” returns.

In separate statements, the SEC said its attention has been drawn to the activities of AURUM BOT, “which presents itself as an investment platform dealing with cryptocurrency in Nigeria.”

The Commission reiterated that transacting in the Nigerian Capital Market with unregistered and unregulated entities exposes investors to financial risk, including fraud and potential loss of investment.

“The Commission hereby informs the public that AURUM BOT is not registered or licenced by the Commission to either solicit investments from the public or operate in any capacity within the Nigerian capital market”.

“Investigations have revealed that AURUM BOT has been actively promoted on social media platforms and online forums. Furthermore, its operations exhibit characteristics commonly associated with fraudulent Ponzi schemes,” SEC said.

SEC advises the public to refrain from investing with AURUM BOT in respect of any business pertaining or relating to the Nigerian capital market “as any investment activity carried out by them in Nigeria is illegal, and any person who engages with the platform does so at his/her own risk”.

Also, the SEC said its attention has been drawn to the activities of an online investment platform known as ModMount Services Limited, “which holds itself out as a financial services provider and Contract for Difference (CFD) broker offering investment opportunities in forex, stocks, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies”.

According to SEC, “Investigations by the Commission have revealed that the operators of ModMount Services Limited claim that the company is incorporated in Seychelles and authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles.

“In addition, the entity solicits funds from members of the Nigerian public and encourages investors to remit monies through bank accounts domiciled in Nigeria. The Commission has also received information indicating complaints of withdrawal difficulties, aggressive solicitation practices, and other conducts inconsistent with fair market practices,” SEC noted.

SEC said that ModMount Services Limited is not registered or licensed by the Commission to either solicit investments from the public or operate in any capacity within the Nigerian capital market.

“Accordingly, the public is advised to refrain from investing with ModMount Services Limited in respect of any business pertaining or relating to the Nigerian capital market as any investment activity carried out in Nigeria is illegal, and any person who engages with the entity or its representatives does so at his/her own risk,” SEC noted.

Airtel Nigeria has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and data access to bridge gaps in connectivity and unlock new opportunities in the country.

The company restated this commitment during a recent high-level inspection tour of the Nxtra Data Centre that is being developed through Nxtra by Airtel Africa at Eko Atlantic, Lagos, the highly rated smart city with ambition to become the Data Centre hub of Nigeria.

The inspection tour was led by the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh and the Chief Executive Officer of Nxtra by Airtel Africa, Yashnath Issur, with the esteemed chairman of Eko Atlantic Mr. Gabbi Massoud, the CEO of the lead Engineering firm Design Group Limited, Mr. Bayo Odunlami and tech journalists.

The Nxtra Data Centre went through a stringent design validation process and cleared the approval to proceed construction from Eko Atlantic.

Commenting on the developments, Mr Issur said the site visit was a milestone marker and an indication of the company’s commitment to delivering the world-class digital facility on time and ensure that, ultimately, the investments deliver reliable, secure, world-class services for Nigeria and the rest of the continent.

“This Nxtra Data Centre in Lagos represents a critical part of our long-term vision for Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. Today’s visit allows us to review progress, engage our stakeholders, and ensure that our infrastructure investments continue to meet global standards and local needs.

“This data centre will deliver critical high multi megawatt capacity in line with hyperscale customers and enable high density environment. We are putting the infra to bring the cloud to Nigeria,” he said.

The data centre, set to be the largest in Nigeria, is being established to deliver hyperscale and edge facilities across key African markets. With a load of 38 Megawatts, the Lagos facility is expected to serve as a major hub for data hosting, cloud services, content distribution, artificial intelligence, and enterprise solutions in West Africa.

In his remarks, Mr Balsingh reiterated that the data centre was progressing steadily towards the previously announced 2028 go live date.

“Since the announcement of this project, our focus has been on building a world-class facility that supports Africa’s digital transformation agenda. We are encouraged by the progress recorded so far and remain committed to delivering a secure, energy-efficient, and future-ready data centre for Nigeria,” he said.

During the tour, stakeholders were ushered through key sections of the site, including piling zones, where required structural requirements have been tested. Technical teams provided briefings on infrastructure design, security architecture, redundancy systems, and sustainability measures being implemented to ensure reliability and operational excellence.

Strategically located close to major fibre routes and undersea cable landing stations, the Eko Atlantic data centre is designed to enhance Nigeria’s data sovereignty, reduce latency, and improve access to reliable digital services for private and enterprise customers, significantly boosting the country’s data hosting capacity and supporting emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Mr. Massoud noted that the inspection tour underscored the city’s dedication to infrastructure of global relevance.

“Eko Atlantic as a city with high quality infrastructure will contribute positively to boost the economy of Nigeria and is a perfect place for the development of the digital infrastructure of Nigeria. The Nxtra data centre reflects the calibre of projects we seek to attract — long-term, technology-driven investments built to the highest global standards.

Today’s visit affirms the rigour of the planning and execution process by Nxtra, and the commitment of Eko Atlantic to facilitate and promote the Nigeria’s evolving digital ecosystem,” he said.

Through this ongoing investment, Airtel Nigeria and Nxtra continue to demonstrate their commitment to building infrastructure that enables innovation, supports economic development, and accelerates Nigeria’s digital transformation.

Nxtra by Airtel is developing a network of hyperscale data centres across the continent. Besides Lagos, construction of a new data centre has also commenced in Nairobi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.