Nigeria’s telecommunications industry experienced more than 30 network disruptions in May 2025, primarily caused by fibre cuts, power outages, vandalism, and equipment theft, according to the NCC Major Outage Reporting Portal. Major operators including MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9Mobile faced service interruptions impacting millions of users across several states.
Significant incidents included an over 8-hour outage on May 21 affecting Glo services in five states due to equipment theft. MTN and Airtel also suffered disruptions from widespread fibre cuts and power failures in regions such as Cross River, Lagos, Benue, and Rivers. Meanwhile, 9Mobile endured multiple extended outages, notably a 15-day power disruption from April 29 to May 14 in parts of Kebbi and Sokoto.
These recurring incidents underscore critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and emphasize the need for enhanced security measures and closer coordination with civil agencies to ensure stable and reliable telecom services in Nigeria.
