MTN subscribers in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba State, experienced a complete service blackout on Thursday that paralyzed communication for millions of users across the region.
The outage, which persisted for several hours, severed all voice calls, SMS messaging, and mobile data services including WhatsApp and other internet-dependent applications on the network. Residents found themselves unable to reach family members, business associates, or customers, creating widespread disruption to daily life and commercial activity.
Business owners, many of whom depend heavily on MTN connectivity for transactions and client communication, reported significant financial losses. Uche Alexander, a spare parts dealer in Jalingo, said the three-hour disruption cost him millions of naira as he could not coordinate with suppliers or clients. “For the past three hours, I have been finding it difficult to communicate with my business partners, and that has made me lose millions of naira,” he said.
Paulina Kamuel, another resident, emphasized the scale of the impact. “Majority of the people in Jalingo and the state as a whole rely on MTN, and I can tell you that a lot of businesses have been crippled in the past three or four hours that the network has disappeared,” she said.
The incident underscores how deeply mobile telecommunications have become embedded in Nigeria’s economic and social infrastructure, supporting banking, commerce, and access to essential online services. As of press time, MTN had not publicly identified the cause of the Jalingo outage, and subscribers remained without service.
The prolonged silence from the provider has amplified calls for greater accountability in network reliability and for timely, transparent communication during major service failures. Residents and business operators alike are urging the company to invest in more resilient infrastructure and to establish clearer protocols for informing the public when critical outages occur.