"We apologise for the inconvenience and ask for your patience and understanding as the team works to restore full service as soon as possible."

Mobile network operator MTN has apologised to its Nigerian customers after users experienced outages in many parts of the country on Wednesday.

It was observed Wednesday that the network disruption affected calls and data services for several hours.

In a statement, the telecom operator attributed the network challenges to a major service outage caused by multiple fibre cuts.

The company said its engineers are working hard to resolve the problem while noting that services are gradually being restored in some areas.

"You have been experiencing challenges connecting to the network due to a major service outage caused by multiple fibre cuts, affecting voice and data services. Our engineers are working hard to resolve the problem with services gradually being restored in some areas.

"We apologise for the inconvenience and ask for your patience and understanding as the team works to restore full service as soon as possible."

The South African-owned MTN is the largest telecom provider in Nigeria, which provides the company its biggest market.

It is active in over 20 countries, and one-third of the company's revenue comes from Nigeria, where it holds about 35 per cent market share.