THE CEO of one of Nigeria’s largest banks has died alongside his wife and son after the helicopter they were travelling in crashed.
Chief executive of Access Bank Herbert Wigwe, 57, was among six people who were tragically killed when the aircraft went down in the desert.
Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe
The helicopter is said to have crashed south of Interstate 15, near Halloran Springs Rd, in Southern California’s Mojave Desert shortly after 10pm on Friday.
Its two pilots and Bamofin Abimbola Ogunbanjo, former chair of NGX Group, the Nigerian stock exchange tragically also died.
The deaths of Wigwe, his family, and Ogunbanjo were confirmed by a former Nigerian finance minister, now the director-general of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Saturday.
She wrote in a post on X: “Terribly saddened by the news of the terrible loss of Herbert Wigwe … his wife and son as well as Bimbo Ogunbanjo in a helicopter crash.
“May the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace.”
Wigwe’s death has sent shockwaves across the world and in the banking sector, where he was widely considered an industry leader.
Access Bank’s assets and presence grew beyond borders in several African countries under Wigwe’s leadership.
He was previously executive director at another of the country’s big banks, Guaranty Trust Bank.
Nigerian presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said Wigwe’s passing was “a terrible blow” for Nigeria and Africa’s banking industry.
He wrote on X: “Wigwe had a big vision to make Access Holdings (the parent company) Africa’s biggest, with all the unquenchable thirst for acquisitions.”
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