The company also reported that 211 telecom sites were affected by theft and vandalism by the end of November 2025, incidents that repeatedly disrupted services relied upon daily by millions of Nigerians.
Nigeria’s telecommunications operator, MTN, has disclosed that its network suffered a staggering 9,218 fibre cuts in 2025, exposing deep-rooted weaknesses in the country’s telecom infrastructure and the persistent impact of vandalism, theft, and poor enforcement.
The company also reported that 211 telecom sites were affected by theft and vandalism by the end of November 2025, incidents that repeatedly disrupted services relied upon daily by millions of Nigerians.
MTN’s Chief Executive Officer, Karl Olutokun Toriola, revealed the figures in a LinkedIn post titled “MTN Nigeria 2025 Wrapped”, describing the disruptions as a major challenge to building a resilient digital network in the country.
“Each disruption is not just a statistic; it interrupts services that millions of Nigerians depend on every day,” Toriola said. “Over 85 million subscribers chose us by the end of September 2025. With growth comes greater responsibility. The fibre cuts, theft, and vandalism directly disrupted services, and we take responsibility for these realities.”
According to the telecom giant, customer dissatisfaction also surged during the year, with MTN receiving 1,624,263 complaints via phone calls, emails, social media platforms, and walk-in service centres.
Toriola said the company viewed every complaint as a critical signal. “Each message helps us understand where we met expectations and where we fell short,” he said.
Independent data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) corroborates MTN’s claims. The NCC’s Uptime portal showed that telecom operators recorded 118 network outage incidents in December 2025 alone, with MTN accounting for 64 of the disruptions — the highest among operators.
The outages were attributed to fibre cuts, power failures, bushfires, and repeated vandalism of telecom infrastructure.
Despite repeated government interventions, service disruptions remain widespread. In August 2024, President Bola Tinubu designated telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure, making deliberate damage a criminal offence. The NCC later launched a public platform in May 2025 for reporting vandalism incidents and, in February 2025, set up an interministerial committee to tackle fibre cuts linked to road construction.
However, these measures have yielded limited results. Incidents of vandalism reportedly increased after May 2025, while arrests and prosecutions remain rare, raising questions about enforcement.
Industry sources attribute the ongoing crisis to theft for black-market resale, accidental damage during roadworks, bush burning, restricted access to telecom sites, and weak coordination among government agencies. The result has been significant revenue losses for operators and deteriorating service quality for subscribers.
While acknowledging the scale of the problem, Toriola insisted MTN remains committed to improvement.