United States of America tech billionaire Elon Musk has apologised after his firm, SpaceX Starlink, a satellite internet provider, suffered a 2.5-hour disruption of high-speed internet service globally on Thursday night.

Musk, in a post via his X account, said he was “sorry” as he addressed the issue.

Recall that SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet suffered one of its biggest international outages, knocking tens of thousands of users offline.

This came as a result of a failure of internal software services.

Reacting, Musk promised that SpaceX will resolve the root cause and make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future.

“Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Musk wrote.

SpaceX has launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites since 2020.

In Nigeria, Starlink officially resumed activations for customers nationwide last month.

According to the US firm, high-demand customers in Lagos and Abuja, among other cities, are at the forefront of its revival.

Recall that between October and November last year, Starlink temporarily paused activations of new customers over regulatory approvals.

This followed the internet company, with over 60,000 subscribers, arbitrarily increasing its subscription prices without the Nigerian Communications Commission’s approval in October 2024.

The disruption was caused by issues related to access to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)’s verification platform, which was undergoing a platform migration to strengthen the security and efficiency of Nigeria’s identity infrastructure.

Affected Services: SIM swaps, replacements, and new activations were impacted due to the technical disruption.

Resolution: NIMC services are now fully operational, and both MTN and Airtel have encouraged customers experiencing lingering delays to visit their nearest service centers for assistance.

Other Telecom Operators: Glo and 9mobile have not yet issued formal announcements regarding the restoration of SIM-related services, but NIMC has indicated that SIM swap services have resumed across multiple networks.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had previously concluded a SIM and NIN linkage exercise, making it mandatory for subscribers to provide valid National Identity Numbers (NINs) for SIM registration.

If you receive an unexpected large sum of money into your business account, especially with a request to return some or all of it, proceed with caution. This scenario could be a potential money laundering attempt.

Steps to Take
1. Do not withdraw or transfer any funds  from the account until the situation is clarified.

2. Report the incident :  to the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) department of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) via email (info@efcc.gov.ng) or visit their office.

3. Advise the sender  to contact their bank to initiate a refund or reversal of the transaction. This is the safest way to resolve the issue.

– Money laundering is a serious offense, and ignorance of the law is no excuse.

– Reporting the incident helps protect you and your business from potential legal implications.

– Letting the sender’s bank handle the reversal minimizes risks associated with the transaction.

Prioritize caution and follow the proper channels to resolve the issue. Your vigilance can help prevent potential legal and financial complications.