8 Months of Telecom Vandalism Crisis: Operators Battle 22,600 Fibre Cuts and Thefts, 19,000 Site Access Denials

The Nigerian telecommunlications industry has continued to witness a severe case of vandalism crisis as operators reportedly recorded over 22,625 in fibre cuts and equipments theft, compounded by an alarming 19,000 incidents of site access denial across the country.

Between January and August 2025, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Executive Vice Chairman, Aminu Maida said the industry recorded 19,384 fibre cut incidents, 3,241 cases of equipment theft, and over 19,000 cases of denials of access to telecom sites.

The NCC EVC made this disclosure at a business roundtable on improving investment in broadband connectivity and safeguarding critical infrastructure, themed ‘Right of Way and Protection of Broadband Infrastructure’, and organised in partnership with the ministry of finance, World Bank and the Nigeria Governors Forum.

Also Read: Over 40 Telecom Structures Destroyed Daily, NCC Decries Vandalism

Speaking at the event, Maida noted that these vandalism and disruptions have caused prolonged outages, revenue losses, increased security costs, and delayed service restoration.

“When diesel runs out at a site because access was denied, the site goes dark — and that means no service. In one or two cases, a single site shutdown could have cut off an entire region.

“These incidents demonstrate why infrastructure protection must be at the centre of our collective agenda” Maida said while stressing that vandalism and other forms of attacks on telecom infrastructure remain a major threat to economic growth, national security, and the digital economy.

Speaking further, the NCC Chief noted that the office of the national security adviser (ONSA) has dismantled cartels behind the persistent sabotage of fibre-optic infrastructure across the country

Maida also disclosed that the commission is enforcing stricter compliance with critical national infrastructure (CNI) protection orders signed by President Bola Tinubu in 2024, alongside new baseline security standards for telecom sites.

On fibre cuts, Maida noted that the lack of communications and poor coordination between telecom service providers and public work agencies has worsened fibre damage nationwide, with contractors repeatedly cutting cables during road construction

“We found out that federal contractors didn’t even know how to reach operators like MTN,” he said.

“There was no coordination mechanism. We’ve now created a working group with the ministry of works to share early notices and prevent fibre cuts that can bring down entire states.”