MTN Announces Network Outage in 5 States, Sends Alerts to Customers
- MTN Nigeria announced network challenges affecting parts of Oyo, Lagos, Rivers, FCT and Delta states
- The telecom said its services may be temporarily unavailable while engineers work to fix the problem
- The outage comes as MTN continues paying airtime compensation to eligible subscribers for disruptions recorded between February and April 2026
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Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of experience in business journalism, with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
MTN Nigeria has warned customers in five states of possible service disruptions after the telecom operator detected network challenges across parts of Oyo, Lagos, Rivers, the Federal Capital Territory and Delta states.
The company issued a network outage alert to customers on Thursday, October 8, 2026, saying its technical teams were already working to fix the problem.
Source: Getty Images
“We're experiencing network challenges in some parts of Oyo, Lagos, Rivers, FCT and Delta States and our services may be temporarily unavailable as a result.
"Our engineers are working to restore services as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
The company did not give a specific cause for the disruption or say when full service would be restored.
Customers in the listed areas could face interruptions to voice calls, mobile internet and other services during the period.
MTN airtime compensation still ongoing
The outage comes as MTN is in the middle of a separate exercise to compensate subscribers for poor service recorded earlier in the year.
The company began crediting eligible customers on Sunday, October 4, 2026, following directives from the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Punch reports.
The compensation covers service failures recorded between February and April 2026, with affected subscribers receiving airtime credits that can be used for calls, SMS and data without an expiry date.
Subscribers have reported receiving different amounts, with screenshots online showing credits ranging from N20 to N1,436.
The variation prompted questions about how the figures were calculated.
MTN explained that the amounts reflected each customer's spending pattern and were tied to Local Government Areas where qualifying service failures occurred, rather than a flat payment applied to all subscribers.
One subscriber who received N20 also raised a separate complaint about data disappearing without use.
MTN responded by clarifying that the credit was part of its quality-of-service compensation programme and was not a response to any data depletion complaint.
The company said:
“The SMS notification relates to a Quality of Service compensation programme for service disruptions recorded between February and April 2026.”
Source: Getty Images
MTN's second compensation round under NCC policy
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that MTN said that its second compensation exercise was under the NCC's quality-of-service framework.
The first covered disruptions recorded between November 2025 and January 2026 and was carried out in May 2026.
Airtel has also begun compensating eligible customers for the February-to-April period. It remains unclear when Globacom and T2mobile, formerly 9mobile, will launch a similar exercise.
Source: Legit.ng
