The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC has raised concerns over more than 5,000 fibre-optic cable cuts recorded in the first half of 2026, warning that continued damage to telecommunications infrastructure could disrupt critical services and undermine Nigeria’s digital economy.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, disclosed this on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at a stakeholders’ workshop on the protection of fibre-optic cables held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser, Abuja.
Maida called on road construction companies, contractors, engineers, government agencies and other stakeholders to strengthen coordination and adopt preventive measures before commencing road construction, rehabilitation, excavation and other civil works.
He said telecommunications infrastructure had become a critical national lifeline supporting banking, government services, education, healthcare, commerce, security and emergency communications.
According to him, fibre cuts can have consequences far beyond the damaged cable, disrupting businesses, public institutions and essential services while imposing significant costs on citizens and the wider economy.
“To a machine operator on a construction site, it may appear to be one buried cable. To the nation, it can mean failed calls, stalled payments, interrupted services and missed opportunities,” Maida said.
He recalled that fibre cuts in February 2024, including those caused by road construction, resulted in an almost network-wide disruption for one telecommunications operator, affecting millions of users for several hours and putting additional pressure on other networks.
Maida stressed that the challenge should not be viewed as a blame game between road contractors and telecommunications operators, but as a coordination problem requiring early intervention.
“No road contractor deliberately seeks to disconnect a community, just as telecommunications operators do not intend to obstruct road construction,” he said.
He disclosed that the Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy had inaugurated a Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables to develop practical coordination mechanisms before, during and after road works.
He added that the committee’s membership had been expanded to include representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser because of the security implications of protecting telecommunications infrastructure, which has been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure.
The NCC chief executive urged telecommunications operators, contractors, government agencies, regulators and security agencies to make infrastructure protection an integral part of project planning and execution.
“Our central message is simple: Nigeria must build the roads that connect our communities while protecting the fibre networks that connect our economy. We need both forms of infrastructure, and we need them to work together,” he said.