A prominent banking executive from Nigeria who was among six killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California late last week posted a foreboding message to social media weeks before that advised his followers to “number our days.”
Herbert Wigwe, CEO of Access Bank in Lagos, one of the largest financial institutions in Africa, was discovered among the dead, along with his wife and son, whose names and ages were not immediately released by authorities.
The chartered flight, operated by Orbic Air in Burbank, crashed in the Mojave Desert shortly after 10 p.m. on Feb 9, with two pilots and four passengers on board.
There were no survivors.
Also killed was Bimbo Ogunbanjo, the former chairman of the Nigerian stock exchange, according to a statement from Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organization.
Weeks before the crash, Wigwe posted cryptic but uplifting remarks to social media, leading to speculation among some of his followers about whether the CEO had experienced a premonition of the impending tragedy.
“Today and always, let us remember that life is a precious gift — a chance to breathe, feel, love, experience and connect,” Wigwe wrote on the platform X. “Let’s honor this gift by living with purpose, kindness, and gratitude, making every moment count. Let us number our days.”
Nigerian officials, meanwhile, called Wigwe’s death a monumental loss for Nigeria, as well as Africa’s broader financial community.
“The death of Roosevelt Herbert Wigwe is a terrible blow for Nigeria and Africa’s banking industry,” said Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu, in a statement posted to the platform X.
He added: “Wigwe had a big vision to make Access Holdings Africa’s biggest, with all the unquenchable thirst for acquisitions.”
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board have not yet determined what caused the flight to go down.
The Airbus Helicopters H130 took off from Palm Springs, California, at 8:45 p.m., headed to Boulder City, Nevada, about 25 miles south of Las Vegas.
Friends and family members later revealed that the group was in town to attend the Super Bowl when fate intervened.
The aircraft was more than an hour into the flight when it apparently ran into trouble over Halloran Springs, California, and crashed about a hundred miles from its destination.
The NTSB is also investigating reports of downed power lines near the accident site and planned to consider if the weather had played a role, as freezing temperatures and a wintry mix of rain and snow swept the region on the day of the crash.
Some drivers along Interstate 15 witnessed the crash and told investigators they possibly saw flames coming from the aircraft before it slammed into the ground.
