More states and communities have continued to fall victim to the fibre cut menace, going by the latest statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

As of last weekend, fibre cuts were reported on the facilities of one of the leading telecom operators.

NCC data showed that the operator suffered cuts in states, including Adamawa, Bauchi, FCT, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Niger. The statistics also showed that the operator also witnessed damage to its infrastructure in Cross River State.

The cuts show that Nigeria’s digital economy is under severe threat as the relentless wave of fibre optic cable cuts continues to cripple telecommunication services across multiple states and communities.

The persistent attacks, both accidental and intentional, which continued from where it stopped in 2025, are translating into widespread network outages, impacting critical services from banking and healthcare to security and remote work.

The NCC and industry bodies have raised an urgent alarm over the sheer volume of infrastructure damage.

Checks showed that between January and August 2025 alone, the NCC reported over 19,000 fibre-optic cable cuts. This is, alongside 3,200 cases of equipment theft and over 19,000 incidents of denied access to telecom sites.

The Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) reports an alarming average of about 1,100 fibre cuts weekly across the country as of last year.

Telecom operators are reeling from the costs. The industry has lost an estimated N27 billion to fibre-related damages, forcing companies to spend resources on repairs and costly redundancy measures instead of network expansion to underserved areas.

The causes are multifaceted but primarily fall into two categories: accidental damage, largely from road construction and civil works. This is cited as the single largest driver of fibre damage.