About nine Nigerian states suffered network disruptions in the first week of June 2025 due to multiple fibre cuts, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) live incident portal.

As a result, the issues subscribers face include prolonged blackouts affecting voice, SMS and data services.

The affected customers are Airtel and 9Mobile subscribers in Lagos, Enugu, Delta, Akwa Ibom, and Abia.

The nationwide disruptions have underscored vulnerabilities in telecom infrastructure.

The outages have left customers stranded, impacting everything from basic communication to digital transactions and business operations.

Data from the platform of the NCC showed that residents of Ikorodu in Lagos are currently experiencing disruptions in SMS, voice, and data services from 9Mobile following a power outage that began in the early hours of June 9, 2025.

The outage has been traced to a diesel shortage at the network’s switch site, leading to a complete power failure.

As of now, the issue has persisted for nearly nine hours, with restoration efforts still ongoing.

Other affected customers are Airtel subscribers. Airtel customers in Ughelli South, Delta State, have been facing a prolonged disruption in data services due to an ongoing power outage that began on June 7, 2025.

The outage stems from multiple generator faults at site DL0231 — DG1 has a faulty injector pump, while DG2 remains unstable due to the same issue.

Tier 5 Technologies, a prominent West African enterprise IT and cloud services provider, has announced a partnership with MongoDB, the leading database for modern applications, to aid its expansion into the West African market, specifically in Nigeria.

L-R: Anders Fabry – Regional Director (Middle East, Turkey & Africa), MongoDB; Mahdi Farran – Enterprise Growth, MongoDB; Afolabi Bolaji – Director of Sales, Tier5 Technologies; Rotus Oddiri – News Anchor, Arise News; Samson Abodunrin – Consulting Engineer, MongoDB; Folasayo Olayemi – Community Manager/Lead, MongoDB User Group; Waleed Mowafy – Solutions Architect, MongoDB and Mahmoud Thakeb – Enterprise Account Executive, MongoDB recently at the “Legacy Modernisation Day” event in Lagos.

This partnership, which focuses on helping organisations modernise their infrastructure to capitalise on the opportunities of AI, was revealed at a recent “Legacy Modernisation Day” event in Lagos, co-hosted by the two companies.

The Tier 5 Technologies-MongoDB partnership aims to harness Africa’s enormous potential, with the continent’s digital economy projected to reach $100 billion.

MongoDB’s mission is to empower innovators to create, transform, and disrupt industries with software and data, and MongoDB is the most widely available, globally distributed database on the market. Millions of developers and more than 50,000 customers across almost every industry—including 70% of the Fortune 100—rely on MongoDB for their most important applications.

“Partnering with Tier 5 Technologies is a pivotal step in deepening our presence in Nigeria—the most populous country in Africa and a key economic engine for the continent,” said Anders Irlander Fabry, Regional Director for Middle East and Africa at MongoDB.

“Tier 5 Technologies brings a proven track record, a strong local network, and a clear commitment to MongoDB as their preferred data platform.

“They’ve already demonstrated their dedication by hiring MongoDB-focused sales specialists, connecting us with top C-level executives, and closing our first enterprise deals in Nigeria in record time. We’re excited about the impact we can make together in this strategic market.”

MongoDB’s product suite includes self-managed MongoDB Enterprise Advanced and MongoDB Atlas, a fully managed integrated suite of cloud database and data services available across AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

MongoDB Atlas is particularly relevant for the African market, where cloud adoption is on the rise and traditional IT infrastructure can present challenges. By delivering scalable, low-latency databases via the cloud, MongoDB aims to overcome infrastructure limitations and empower developers across the continent to build world-class applications.

At the “Legacy Modernisation Day” event, Afolabi Bolaji, Director of Sales at Tier 5 Technologies, noted the strategic nature of the Tier 5 Technologies-MongoDB partnership. “This isn’t just a reseller deal,” he said. “We’ve made significant investments in MongoDB because we believe it will underpin the next generation of African innovation.

“Many of our customers—from nimble fintechs to established banks—already rely on it. Now, they’ll have access to enterprise-grade features, local support, and global expertise.”

This partnership reflects a broader shift in how global technology leaders perceive Africa—not just as a consumer market, but as a dynamic source of innovation, technical talent, and enterprise demand. With surging demand for solutions in fintech, logistics, AI, and edtech across the continent, this partnership holds the potential for transformative impact and signals a long-term commitment to Africa’s technological future, helping to define how Africa builds its digital economy from the ground up.

When Okezie Kelechi lost his SIM card, the one he had used since his secondary school days, he didn’t think much of it.

He was shocked weeks later to find out it had been reassigned to someone else.

“I had no idea that if your SIM card has been inactive for more than three months, they will resell it,” he wrote on social media.

“They recycled my SIM card and sold it. Same number, I have had it since secondary school.”

Kelechi’s story is far from unique.

Across Nigeria, more people are waking up to the realities of what is known as SIM recycling, a process where telecommunication companies reassign inactive phone numbers to new users. While allowed under existing rules set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the practice is now raising serious concerns over data privacy, fraud, and national security.

A regulatory gap with real-life consequences

Experts in Nigeria’s telecommunications and security sectors are increasingly warning that the NCC’s failure to establish stronger oversight of SIM recycling is endangering millions.

“Beyond the data breaches, this issue posed a big threat to national security. I have always maintained the need for a central data system in Nigeria,” said Daniel Makolo, a retired senior official of the Nigerian Immigration Service to The ICIR.

“There’s much more to this if we don’t pay attention to an appropriate central data mining system that gives us a history of each person in the country.”

Ayodele Ajayi, an engineering professor at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, explained the security risks from his own experience.

“I used to have one Airtel number, but I travelled out. Before I came back, it was reallocated to another user,” he said.

Because phone numbers are tied to Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) and National Identity Numbers (NINs), reassigning them can expose people to identity theft and financial loss.

The NCC should find a way to notify users when their numbers are at risk of being deactivated, Ajayi urged.

He also recounted an incident he witnessed at a bank, “a woman was narrating how she used to have a particular number but lost it. Somebody saw the number and started using it.

The woman said that before she could act, the person who got the number had started using it and had connived with a bank office to almost wipe out all her savings.

“Upon arriving at the bank to check her account balance, she found out that she had only N50,000 left from about N5 million she had saved up.”

Ajayi emphasised that while recycling is a practical move for telcos to manage limited number availability, more caution is needed.

“Let people know so they can migrate their data to another line, particularly now that almost every channel we use is linked to the phone number, including our bank verification number (BVN)”, he stated.

Kelechi recalled that his number was reassigned to another user despite still being active on WhatsApp.

“I used to wonder why random Hausa boys were always messaging me and calling me baby.

He added that “when I finally visited MTN office in Nigeria, I was told the line has been sold to someone else. E pain me, I no go lie.”

Another social media user Elizabeth Kandi, @DrETKandi warning others about the hidden risks of SIM inactivity alleges that when reassigned the new user can have  access to your USSD banking.

“If your Nigerian number was connected to your Nigerian bank accounts for USSD, if you didn’t use it for long, the network provider can disconnect and sell the number to someone else…but that person would be able to access your money via USSD,” Kandi wrote.

Her post underscores the growing fear that recycled numbers, still linked to sensitive services like mobile banking, can open the door to fraud and financial loss

Why do Telcos recycle SIMs?

At a virtual stakeholder meeting in April 2025, NCC Executive Vice Chairman Aminu Maida acknowledged the concern noting that with the evolving landscape, it has become necessary to address emerging challenges that could undermine consumer rights.

He further noted that the Quality-of-Service Business Rules 2024 stipulate that a prepaid line without a revenue-generating event for six months must be deactivated.

This means if a prepaid SIM card goes unused for six months (i.e., no calls, texts, or data use), it must be deactivated.

If the inactivity continues for another six months, the number may be recycled/reallocated to a new user.

In Section 28 of the NCC’s draft business  it is stated that all recycled SIMs must be purged of any NIN attached  to allow a new user to link their own NIN. But real-world cases suggest that in practice, many recycled numbers are not properly sanitised before reassignment.

The business case for SIM recycling

For telecom operators, recycling isn’t just a technical choice, it’s economic.

Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), explained that subscribers do not have ownership rights to SIM cards in their possession, as the telecom operators pay procurement and recurring costs for each registered subscriber.

He further explained that SIM cards are “recycled” to prevent number exhaustion while reducing the cost of generating and maintaining them.

“SIM cards are reassigned to reduce the dormant subscribers, as telcos are profit-oriented organisations,” Adebayo said.

In the exercise of its powers under Section 70 of the NCC Act (2003), the commission made provisions for the development of a new numbering plan for Nigeria. Under the provision, telcos are obligated to pay a sum that is the ‘numbering plan fees’ to maintain their allocated numbers.