Vandalism of telecom infrastructure in Nigeria has more than doubled since May 2025, rising from an average of two to five incidents per day, according to data compiled by the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON). This sharp increase, amounting to 445 cases over 88 days, has led to widespread network outages, affecting voice calls, internet access, SMS, and USSD services across all major mobile network operators.  

Gbenga Adebayo, President of ALTON, told TechCabal that the attacks have grown increasingly aggressive. 

“In many cases, the vandals now confront site engineers directly and demand ransom before releasing stolen cables,” Adebayo said, highlighting the escalating threat to telecom operations. The highest number of vandalism incidents has been recorded in states such as Delta, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Lagos, Kogi, FCT, Kaduna, Nigeria, Osun, Kwara, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. 

Vandalism against telecom infrastructure in Nigeria has been most severe in states like Delta, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Edo, Kwara, and Kaduna. The impact peaked in May 2025, with 88 network outages linked to fibre cuts, equipment theft, and power failures. That number declined to 71 in June and 27 in July, but the threat remains persistent. 

Telecom operators in Nigeria face rising challenges beyond theft and vandalism of assets like copper cables and diesel. In many cases, local communities demand compensation before allowing repairs, delaying service restoration, and increasing operational costs.

In June, the Nigerian government issued the Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Order, which recognises telecommunications as critical infrastructure and makes its deliberate damage a criminal offence. 

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is leading the rollout of the CNII framework, supported by security agencies: the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) coordinates overall strategy; the Inspector General of Police leads enforcement; the Department of State Services (DSS) provides intelligence on emerging threats; and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is charged with protecting telecom infrastructure on the ground. 

Industry stakeholders say implementation has fallen short. Despite the rise in vandalism, there have been no reported arrests or prosecutions. The NCC declined to comment on the matter. 

“We appeal to every Nigerian to please join us in the fight against the vandalisation of telecom infrastructure,” said Adebayo. “These assets power our banks, emergency services, education, healthcare, security systems, and daily communication. Attacking them is an attack on our economy and national stability.”

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed tower companies to make urgent improvements in service quality or face regulatory penalties. The regulator set an August end deadline for these companies to address issues affecting internet quality, such as poor power supply, equipment failures, and a lack of sufficient technical support.

Aminu Maida, NCC Executive Vice Chairman, gave the directive on Thursday during a high-level meeting in Abuja, attended by major tower infrastructure providers, including IHS Towers, American Tower Corporation (ATC), Pan-African Towers, and other key stakeholders like the internet network providers. The session focused on identifying bottlenecks in infrastructure delivery and improving the performance of shared telecom assets, according to two industry stakeholders who attended the meeting and asked not to be named to speak freely.

NCC did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

Tower companies, commonly known as TowerCos, form the structural backbone of Nigeria’s telecommunications industry. They provide the physical infrastructure—cell towers, rooftop sites, and associated facilities—on which mobile network operators (MNOs) like MTN, Airtel, and Glo deploy their radio and data transmission equipment.

TowerCos are also responsible for ensuring a 24/7 electricity supply to these sites and securing them against theft and vandalism. Any failure at the tower level directly impacts the quality of voice and data services delivered by MNOs.

“When there’s no power, the radios shut down. If the power fluctuates, the radios restart, and that leads to dropped calls, frozen data sessions, and frustrated customers,” explained one industry insider. “So, while the Commission rightly holds MNOs accountable for service quality, tower providers must also be held to the same level of operational reliability.”

IHS Towers is the dominant tower infrastructure provider in Nigeria, managing between 16,000 and 19,000 sites, which accounts for roughly 62% of all co-located telecom infrastructure nationwide. American Tower Corporation (ATC) is the second-largest player, with about 8,270 towers, while Pan-African Towers—a smaller, indigenous firm—operates between 760 and 1,000 sites, although not all are currently active.

Given their market size and role in connectivity, the NCC’s directive places the burden squarely on these companies to resolve issues of downtime, delayed maintenance, and poor power management that have plagued the network in recent months.

Until 2024, the NCC’s Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations focused mainly on mobile network operators. However, in August 2024, the Commission revised the framework to include the entire connectivity value chain, including TowerCos. The updated regulations, which have since been gazetted, introduced new key performance indicators (KPIs) that infrastructure providers are now obligated to meet.

“It’s been eleven months since those new regulations came into effect,” Maida said during the meeting. “That’s more than enough time for all parties to align with the performance standards expected of them.”

The NCC is implementing a transparency-focused enforcement strategy, a source familiar with the matter said. As part of this approach, the Commission recently launched the Major Incident Reporting Portal, mandating all service providers to publicly disclose significant network disruptions. 

The regulator is also developing a set of performance dashboards to be hosted on its website, allowing consumers to track how well tower and mobile network operators are adhering to their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

While some tower companies have attributed their failure to meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to delayed payments from mobile network operators, claiming that cash flow constraints limit their ability to maintain sites or invest in backup power systems, the NCC is no longer accepting these explanations.

During the Abuja meeting, Maida made it clear that financial disputes are not a valid excuse for poor service delivery. “Operators must fulfill both their technical and financial responsibilities,” he said, stressing that performance expectations remain non-negotiable regardless of internal challenges.

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In June 2024, Nigeria signed the Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure Order (CNII), which classifies telecom infrastructure, such as fibre cables, data centres, and towers, as critical national assets and makes their protection a matter of national security. However, one year on, Nigeria is seeing record levels of fibre cuts and network disruptions, raising questions about the policy’s implementation.

Between January and June 2025, Nigeria recorded 349 major network outages—an average of two per day, according to Uptime, a network monitoring website launched by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). May alone witnessed 75 disruptions, the highest in any single month so far this year.

In the first 12 days of June, there were 19 more outages, with 11 caused by fibre cuts, seven by power failures, and one due to equipment vandalism. These outages have affected states across the country, including Borno, Kaduna, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Rivers, Anambra, and Lagos, and have disrupted essential services such as USSD banking, voice calls, and internet connectivity.

Industry frustration mounts

Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), acknowledged the delay in implementing the CNII framework. “I must admit we have been too slow in getting the operationalisation of the CNII Order off the ground,” he said. “This is due to the back-and-forth between stakeholders. But we want the results to be sustainable and last for a long time.”

That delay is proving costly.

In Lagos alone, telcos lost an estimated ₦5 billion ($10.8 million) in 2024 due to more than 2,500 fibre cuts. MTN Nigeria spent ₦11.1 billion ($24.1 million) between 2022 and 2023 to repair and relocate over 2,500 kilometres of fibre-optic cables, resources that could have gone into expanding network infrastructure in underserved regions. The telecom industry lost an estimated ₦27 billion ($58.6 million) to fibre-related damages in 2023.

These losses go beyond financial metrics. Every fibre cut delays services to banks, hospitals, government offices, and businesses. In June 2025, a Glo fibre cut in Abia and Rivers states left subscribers without USSD, SMS, voice, or data services for nearly an hour. Airtel faced a similar challenge in Anambra and Imo, with over an hour of disruption. These outages have far-reaching economic consequences, undermining confidence in digital services and stalling digital transactions.

Wider economic risks

For businesses dependent on cloud computing, digital payments, and remote work, these network failures are a direct threat to revenue and productivity. 

In the final week of May 2025, fibre cuts in Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Yobe brought business operations to a standstill. Residents couldn’t access basic telecom services, banks struggled with failed USSD transactions, and healthcare providers were locked out of telemedicine platforms.

Recognising the economic risks, some states are taking steps to support telecom operators. 

“It’s part of why we eliminated Right of Way (RoW) fees,” said Suleiman Isah, Commissioner for Communication Technology and Digital Economy in Niger State. “We’ve also partnered with the NCC and telecom providers to coordinate with the Ministry of Works and Water Resources, so there’s advance notice before any construction that could impact fibre routes.”

Niger is one of 12 states that have waived RoW charges to accelerate fibre deployment. But fibre cuts continue to rise. On May 8, 2025, a Globacom fibre line running through Kebbi, Niger, and Sokoto was severed by road contractors from China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), knocking out internet access in several communities for nearly three hours. Another incident in Niger State on June 10 disrupted SMS, voice, and data services across eight communities and took more than two hours to fix.

Repair times vary widely—from 30 minutes to several hours or days—depending on the terrain, accessibility, and the state of supporting infrastructure like roads or drainage systems. Each hour lost chips away at economic activity, customer trust, and Nigeria’s broader digital transformation goals.

Promises of progress

The CNII Order was designed to make the willful damage of telecom infrastructure a serious criminal offense, with penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. It also called for minimum protection standards, coordinated information sharing, and enforcement led by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). These measures have yet to yield tangible improvements.

Adebayo said stakeholders—including ALTON, the NCC, the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, ONSA, and NSCDC—have now reached consensus on the best approach for implementation.

The NCC recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Works to protect fibre infrastructure during road construction. “You will soon start seeing the implementation of what we have been working on,” Adebayo said.

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