TheCable

Herbert Wigwe, the group chief executive officer (GCEO) of Access Holdings Plc, died in a helicopter crash in the United States, on Friday, TheCable understands.

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

All six passengers on board died.

The Eurocopter EC130 helicopter, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), crashed around 10 pm Califonia time (which is Saturday, 7 am, Nigerian time).

According to an NBC report, the helicopter is registered to a Burbank-based tour company called Orbic Air.

This is the second accident in California under a week after a Navy helicopter carrying five marines crashed on Tuesday night during a storm — killing all.

The GCEO is also the founder of Wigwe University, and was the deputy managing director at Access Bank from 2002 to 2014, when he became the group managing director and CEO.

He served as the chairman of Access Bank (Ghana), Access Investment & Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) and presently as chairman of Access Bank (UK) Limited and Unified Payments Services Limited.