Late Wigwe and Ogubanjo
By Ayo Kehinde
Details of the manifest of passengers on the helicopter that killed Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, his wife – Chizoba, 29-year-old son – Chizi, and Chief Abimbola Ogunbanjo, has shown that Wigwe’s personal assistant pulled out at the last minute.
The US National Transportation & Safety Board NTSB, has issued a preliminary statement that “… Wigwe’s helicopter crash was caused mainly due to bad weather. All 6 on the manifest were confirmed dead, including the pilot and Co pilot. His Personal Assistant, identified as 49-year-old Faleye Olushola John, pulled out of the journey and travelled by road with the luggages, because of the weight. He was the only survivor, as he disembarked last minute.”
He reportedly chose, at the last minute, to travel by road with their luggage.
According to the spokesman of the agency, Peter Knudson, the Airbus Helicopter EC-130 went down Friday evening near Baker, a town of 700 people about 95 miles southwest of Las Vegas.
He added that Faleye flew with Wigwe (58), his 56-year-old wife, son and the 61-year-old former Group Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), Abimbola Ogunbanjo from London, United Kingdom to Palm Spring, a city in California, US.
On getting to Palm Spring, Faleye declined to board the ill-fated flight going to Boulder City in Nevada. He insisted that he would not travel by helicopter at night due to the weather conditions
Boulder City is about 26 miles southeast of Las Vegas, where the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers were set to play in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, said the US authorities.
