BREAKING: Access Bank CEO, Wigwe, wife, others die in helicopter crash

Herbert Wigwe, Access Holdings Plc’s global CEO, was involved in a helicopter crash in the United States on Friday.

Wigwe, his wife, and kid were aboard the aircraft when it crashed in California near the Nevada border, as was Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group).

There were six passengers onboard, but no survivors have been recovered thus far.

They were apparently on their way to Las Vegas to attend the Super Bowl, the National Football League’s (NFL) annual championship game.

The New York Times confirmed the occurrence, but did not reveal the identities of the individuals.

However, sources in the banking industry verified that the bank chief was on the ill-fated plane.

“A helicopter carrying six people crashed on Friday night near the California-Nevada border, and no survivors have been located as of Saturday morning.”

“The Federal Aviation Administration said that the Eurocopter EC130 helicopter crashed at around 10 p.m. local time near Nipton, Calif., an unincorporated community about 60 miles south of Las Vegas in eastern San Bernardino County.

It was unclear on Saturday morning where the helicopter departed from and where it was headed. Officials at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department were made aware of the downed aircraft at 10:12 p.m. local time, Mara Rodriguez, a public information officer with the department, said in a statement, adding that the scene of the crash was determined to be east of Interstate 15, near Halloran Springs Road,” New York Times said in its report.

Wigwe University

During his last days on earth, he invested massively in his university project, granting interviews and pushing out adverts.

Described as a $500 million eponymous university in his hometown in Rivers State, Wigwe had said the University would offer undergraduate courses in management, science and engineering, information technology, and creative arts.

He told BusinessDay in an interview that the project was very special to him.

“The Wigwe University project is special because it is an opportunity for me to give back to the society by providing world-class quality education that will foster the development of Nigeria and Africa. The project’s major focus is nurturing and building responsible and thoughtful leaders who have the capacity to ignite the potentials of the continent and take its rightful place as far as the global stage is concerned. We want to build people who will alter where Nigeria and Africa is going, and make sure that we remain a very competitive place.”

“One of the key drivers of the creation of Wigwe University is moulding innovative leaders that will effect positive change in our society. We are not just looking for people who will be job seekers, but people who are entrepreneurial and changemakers. We will place great emphasis on innovation so that we become less reliant on the rest of the world. The goal is to create an efficient ecosystem that produces fearlesss leaders who are passionate about preserving our cultural values. Wigwe University is poised at empowering individuals with the requisite knowledge to transform Nigeria and Africa and ensure that we get the respect that we deserve in the world,” he had said.

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