MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecommunications operator, recorded a staggering 9,218 fibre-optic cable cuts in 2025, alongside 211 base station sites affected by theft and vandalism, marking one of the most disruptive years in recent memory for the nation’s telecom infrastructure. These incidents have severely impacted mobile and data services relied upon daily by millions of Nigerians, highlighting the growing vulnerability of critical communications systems to deliberate damage and theft.
According to a year-end review shared by Dr. Karl Olutokun Toriola, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, the volume of fibre cuts more than 5,400 in just the first seven months was an unprecedented challenge that strained the operator’s ability to deliver consistent connectivity. In July alone, the company recorded 760 fibre breaks, underlining the intensity of the problem.
These repeated incidents have translated into palpable service disruptions. Some fibre breaks knocked out connectivity across multiple states at once, leaving customers without voice calls, internet access, digital payments and essential data services for extended periods. Given the economy’s deep reliance on mobile networks for everything from banking to education and enterprise operations, such outages have ripple effects on daily life and business.
Toriola framed the issue as a national infrastructure problem, rather than one isolated to his company. “These gaps were shaped by real operational challenges such as fibre cuts, theft, and vandalism,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post summarising MTN’s performance. “Their impact is felt directly by customers and reflected in what they tell us.”
Reflecting this reality, the company responded to a record 1,624,263 customer complaints in 2025 from call centres to social media platforms, email and service centres nationwide as users sought answers and resolution for disrupted services. Despite the high volume, MTN resolved these complaints throughout the year, working to mitigate the impact on subscribers.
Even as MTN grappled with infrastructure attacks, the operator pointed to several positive indicators of resilience. It retained recognition as Nigeria’s best network by Ookla performance rankings, returned to profitability after a challenging period, declared an interim dividend, and grew its subscriber base to over 85 million users by September 2025.
Nevertheless, improving performance remains ongoing. “We are not where we want to be yet,” Toriola acknowledged, adding: “We see you. We hear you. We exist because of you. And we will get better.”
As MTN Nigeria approaches its 25th year of operations, leadership says customer-centricity and strategic engagement are at the core of the company’s response. Toriola renewed calls for stronger regulatory and legal protections for telecom infrastructure, urging policymakers to classify fibre cables, base stations and critical assets as national infrastructure and introduce stiffer penalties to deter vandalism and theft.
Industry regulators like the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have repeatedly warned that vandalism and theft remain among the greatest threats to service quality in the country. Such attacks affect not only telecom operators but also emergency services, digital finance platforms and government systems that depend on stable connectivity.
With Nigeria continuing its push toward a digital economy driven by mobile broadband, fintech and e-government services, stakeholders fear that failure to safeguard critical infrastructure could undermine national productivity, deter investment and widen the digital divide. Analysts warn that without effective countermeasures, recurrent infrastructure sabotage could become a barrier to economic growth and technology adoption.
For MTN Nigeria, the path forward lies in balancing continued network expansion with enhanced protection of existing infrastructure, where connectivity has become essential to daily life yet increasingly susceptible to human-induced disruptions. The challenge will test not only MTN’s technical capabilities but also the nation’s collective commitment to protecting digital lifelines vital to its future.
