Network Outages Worsen as Nigerian Telcos Report 445 Vandalism Incidents
Nigeria’s telecommunications sector is currently grappling with a severe surge in infrastructure vandalism, leading to widespread network disruptions across the country. Data compiled by the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) reveals a dramatic increase in incidents, with attacks more than doubling since May 2025. This alarming trend has escalated from an average of two daily incidents to five, directly impacting the quality and availability of essential telecom services for millions.
The Alarming Surge in Infrastructure Attacks
Over a period of just 88 days, a staggering 445 cases of telecom infrastructure vandalism have been recorded, according to ALTON. This sharp rise has resulted in significant network outages, affecting critical services such as voice calls, internet access, SMS, and USSD services across all major mobile network operators in the West African nation. The escalating nature of these attacks poses a grave threat to national connectivity. Gbenga Adebayo, President of ALTON, highlighted the growing aggression of these incidents. “In many cases, the vandals now confront site engineers directly and demand ransom before releasing stolen cables,” Adebayo stated, underscoring the serious danger faced by personnel and the increased complexity of recovering stolen assets. The states most affected by these malicious acts include Delta, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Lagos, Kogi, FCT, Kaduna, Nigeria, Osun, Kwara, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, indicating a broad geographical spread of the problem.
This unprecedented wave of vandalism is severely impeding the operational efficiency of telecom companies and, more critically, disrupting the daily lives and economic activities of Nigerians who rely heavily on these services. The consistent targeting of vital infrastructure not only incurs substantial financial losses for telcos but also compromises the nation’s digital progression and connectivity goals.
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Related Keywords: Network outages, telecom vandalism, internet downtime, telco service disruption, critical infrastructure damage, communication network failure, broadband service outages, network reliability issues, telco infrastructure attacks
