Banker’s PA: What Wigwe told me before helicopter crash

Simon Faleye, the Personal Assistant to the late Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, has recounted the last moments of his deceased boss.

Faleye also recounted the premonitions he had about the helicopter flight that killed Wigwe, his wife and son and the former Group Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), Abimbola Ogunbanjo.

Wigwe died alongside his wife and son and Ogunbanjo in a helicopter crash in the United States on February 9, 2024.

Speaking at the night of tribute for Wigwe in Lagos on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, Faleye disclosed that he was supposed to fly in the helicopter but later decided to accompany their luggage by road since the chopper could not carry it.

He said he got the nod of Wigwe who applauded the idea as a brilliant one, adding that he headed to Vegas by road with the luggage while his boss, wife, son, and Ogunbajo boarded the chopper to the same destination.

While on his way to Vegas, Faleye revealed that he tried to call his boss and the others on the helicopter but none of the calls pulled through.

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He said: “Five of us embarked on that journey. I remember Mr Bimbo chatted to me and said he wanted to come with us, it was a Tuesday. And I told him my boss journey is not always straightforward. Sometimes, you can get in the air and divert somewhere else, and he said he was going to wait.

“I said he was still going to Abuja that day, and maybe he’ll be leaving later in the night and he said he was going to wait.

“I still tried to let him understand that we will be in London on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. He said he will stay in his house and wait. I really don’t know why I was trying to convince him not, I don’t know, and we all went on the journey.

“We flew from London to Palm Springs. I remember, in the middle of the air, I walked up to him. I said sir, how comfortable are you flying chopper at night? I’ve never done it before. And he said a word, he said, This is America, they have navigation systems for flying chopper at night, and I went back to my seat.

“As they were loading the luggage, this thought started playing in my mind that, okay, you will fly chopper, one hour you are there. The next three and a half hours, the luggage are not going to come. Will I go to bed, no. I still have to sit down and wait for this luggage to come. I was like so, why not just go with the luggage and get there and deliver to him and others in the room?

“Like I said, I always reason in the line of duty. And I went up to him, and said, sir, I think it’s safer and will be secure for me to just ride and bring the luggage to you. He said, brilliant idea, and I said safe flight.”

The Star