(Ecofin Agency) - Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has signed an official order making it a criminal offense to damage telecommunications infrastructure in the country. The announcement was made on August 21 by Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, through a post on X.

The new measure criminalizes intentional damage to assets such as telecom towers, switching stations, data centers, satellite infrastructure, underwater and fiber optic cables, transmission equipment, e-government platforms, and databases, among others.

This move addresses the frequent complaints from Nigerian telecom operators about the negative impact of increased vandalism on their operations. Between 2019 and 2023, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recorded over 50,000 significant damages to telecom infrastructure. In 2022 and 2023 alone, there were 59,000 cases of fiber optic cable cuts, requiring an investment of 14 billion naira (about $8.9 million) for repairs.

According to the minister, this new ordinance aims to strengthen and protect investments in the ICT sector by reducing incidents that could harm technological operations, infrastructure, and networks. It will also allow telecom operators to focus their investments on improving service quality and expanding network coverage.