MTN network outages deepen across Kebbi, Zamfara, and Sokoto amid rising insecurity challenges 

MTN Nigeria’s customers across Kebbi, Zamfara, and Sokoto continue to experience frequent network disruptions due to security challenges and persistent fibre-optic cuts in the region. 

The telco has linked the recurring outages to multiple fibre cuts across northern routes, issuing apology messages as frequently as twice a week. The company explained that while fibre cuts occur nationwide, states in the South-East and South-South remain the highest-risk zones due to widespread vandalism and ongoing road construction projects that frequently damage buried cables.

Since September 2025, subscribers have reported repeated shutdowns, some lasting up to two hours, leaving entire communities without the ability to make calls, send messages, or access mobile data.

For many residents, the outages carry serious consequences that go beyond inconvenience. “This is bad, it’s not meant to be. If there is an emergency, people can’t communicate, especially with the security risk within these states,” said Precious, a student nurse in Kebbi State.

Another says the situation is worsening. “MTN is very bad, because that’s one of the networks that is normally good for communication in Kebbi,” said Lengmang, a Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) worker. “The network used to be stable, but recently it has been fluctuating, making communication hard. And due to the security issues here in Kebbi, it is common to have network problems at this point in time. I feel like they should improve and try to fix it before something happens.”

The outages come at a time when Northern Nigeria is drowning in gruesome tales of kidnapping, terrorism and throes of conflict — a backdrop that makes reliable communication even more critical. Across several states, reports of kidnappings, armed attacks, and community violence have become more frequent. In Kebbi State, the convoy of former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami was recently attacked, the House of Assembly Deputy Speaker, Muhammed Samaila Bagudo was kidnapped while the state also witnessed the abduction of 25 schoolgirls, heightening tensions within rural communities.

Neighbouring Kwara State has also suffered a string of bandit-related attacks, adding to the growing insecurity spreading across the North-Central and North-West regions. 

According to residents, the disruptions crippled commercial activities, especially in sectors that rely heavily on mobile connectivity for payments, logistics, and communication. Users in parts of Yobe also experienced similar downtime linked to the same fibre-cut incidents. 

Between January and July 2025 alone, MTN recorded more than 5,400 fibre-optic cable cuts, a figure that highlights the scale of the challenge. These incidents forced the operator to divert huge resources to emergency repairs instead of network expansion. MTN disclosed that the  ₦11 billion spent on repairs and cable relocations within this period could have funded the construction of 870 kilometres of new fibre infrastructure—capacity that would have improved broadband penetration in underserved regions.