Chief Executive Officer of the Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, has thrown in the towel. His sudden resignation has been confirmed by Etisalat but with no reason given for the action.

Mr. Evans resigned last month and returned home to the United Kingdom, according to a report yesterday by Bloomberg.

The report quoted Chineze Amanfo, a spokesperson for Etisalat Nigeria, as confirming that Chief Commercial Officer Matthew Willsher has taken over as acting CEO.

Evans was appointed in December 2008, two months after Etisalat began full commercial operations in Nigeria. Prior to that he was chief executive officer of London-based BT Group Plc (BT/A)’s mobile unit.

Etisalat, which had 15.3 million subscribers as at last June, is the fourth largest mobile phone operator in Nigeria after MTN, Globacom and Airtel. The company, which has Hakeem Bello-Osagie as Chairman, is a subsidiary of Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

•Photo shows ex-Etisalat Nigeria CEO Steven Evans.