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There has been a general downtime in internet services as a result of damage to international undersea cables.
In a statement on Thursday, March 14, 2024, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the damage caused internet service disruption in Nigeria and other countries.
The NCC said, “A combination of cable cuts, resulting in equipment faults on the major undersea cables along the West African Coast, have negatively impacted data and fixed telecom services in several countries of West Africa.”
According to NetBlocks, an organisation that monitors cybersecurity and the governance of the internet, the connectivity disruption affects eight West African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon Ivory Coast, Liberia, and the Benin Republic.
Announcing the development in a post on its X handle, the organisation said, “Live network data show today’s telecoms disruption in #Africa has intensified; the incident has high impact to West Africa with significant reductions in connectivity evident across the continent; operators report multiple subsea cable failures.”
Also confirming the disruption, Nigeria’s telecommunication giant, MTN, has apologised to its customers over the lingering poor internet services.
In a statement on Thursday, the company said the problem was caused by “a damage to international undersea cables across East and West Africa.”
The company, however, assured that efforts were ongoing to ensure the situation was resolved as soon as possible.
Corroborating this, the NNC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka said cable operators have promised to work round the clock to ensure internet service is restored to the affected countries.