More than 5,000 incidents of cuts in fibre-optic cables were recorded across Nigeria in the first six months of 2026 because of road construction, excavation, rehabilitation, and related civil works, according to the Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida.
Speaking on August 11, 2026, at a stakeholders’ workshop on the protection of fibre-optic cables held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in the Office of the National Security Adviser in Abuja, Dr. Maida called on road construction companies, contractors, engineers, and other stakeholders to strengthen coordination and adopt preventive measures to protect fibre-optic cables during road construction, rehabilitation, and other civil works across the country.
Stressing that Nigeria’s drive to expand physical infrastructure must not undermine the digital infrastructure connecting Nigerians to information, services, markets, and opportunities, he noted that communications infrastructure has become a critical national lifeline, underpinning banking, government services, education, healthcare, commerce, security, and emergency communications.
The Executive Vice-Chairman pointed out that damage to fibre infrastructure could disrupt essential services and impose significant costs on citizens and the wider economy.
According to him, “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,” adding that fibre cuts have far-reaching impact on individuals, businesses, and public institutions.
He said: “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.”
Dr. Maida recalled that in February 2024, fibre cuts, 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 placing additional pressure on other networks.
He noted that the challenge was not about assigning blame, as no road contractor deliberately seeks to disconnect a community, just as telecommunications operators do not intend to obstruct road construction.
However, Dr. Maida stressed the need for a dependable system of early coordination among all stakeholders, noting that the Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Works, as well as the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, had inaugurated the Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables to develop practical coordination mechanisms before, during, and after road works.
He also disclosed that the Committee’s membership had recently been expanded to include representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser, in recognition of the security implications of protecting telecommunications infrastructure, which has been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure.
Dr. Maida explained that the designation requires telecommunications infrastructure to be treated as national infrastructure and protected accordingly, with appropriate legal, regulatory, and remedial consequences for damage.
He urged operators, contractors, government agencies, regulators, and security agencies to play their respective roles in preventing fibre damage, stressing that coordination must become an integral part of the planning and execution of relevant projects.
Dr. Maida called on the participants to use the workshop to develop practical measures that would make coordination standard practice rather than the exception.
The workshop is part of efforts by the NCC and other stakeholders to institutionalise coordination mechanisms that will safeguard telecommunications infrastructure, minimise service disruptions, and support Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda, and is expected to culminate in a framework for the protection of telecommunications fibre optic infrastructure during road construction and other excavation activities.
