Herbert Wigwe, wife, son, buried in private cemetery
The co-founder and Group Chief Executive of Access Holdings Plc, late Dr. Herbert Wigwe, his wife, Chizoba and 29-year-old son, Chizzy were laid to rest in a private cemetery within the sprawling private home he built inside the premises of the Wigwe University in his country home of Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
They were laid to rest in a private interment following a funeral church service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Lion of Judah Parish, Isiokpo.
Saturday’s funeral service commenced promptly at 11:00 am after a Christian wake keep was organised in their honour. Hundreds of mourners, including friends, associates, and well-wishers from Nigeria and across the globe poured into Isiokpo to pay their final respects to the trio.
Present at the service were; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; business leader Aliko Dangote, HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II, Gov. Alex Otti, Gov. Dapo Abiodun, former Senate President Bukola Saraki; Gov. Babajide Sawno-Olu, former Anambra State Gov. Peter Obi and other notable captains of industry.
Other dignitaries in attendance were Rivers State Governor Sim Fubara and State Commissioner of Police Olatunji Disu, who was the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the burial ceremony.
Also at the funeral were Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and Dr. Godknows Igali, a former Nigerian diplomat, among many others.
Recall that the trio of Herbert, Chizoba, and Chizi Wigwe alongside former Group Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), Abimbola Ogunbanjo, as well as two pilots, were all in the Airbus Helicopter EC 130B4 with registration number N130CZ, which crashed near Halloran Springs, California, on February 9, 2024.
The exact cause of the crash is not yet known, but a preliminary report released by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) two weeks ago, said the chopper was seen by several witnesses in vehicles who reported it as a “fireball” before its eventual crash.
According to the NTSB, the witnesses reported that the weather on the fateful day of the helicopter crash was a mix of rain and snow.
Wigwe’s death remains one of the most shocking in the Nigerian banking industry.
During the events leading to their burial, several friends, captains of industry, family members, and associates paid tributes to the late banking guru and his wife and son.
Leading the tributes at an event in Lagos on Monday, a tearful Aliko Dangote described Wigwe as his brother and friend.
“He was a pillar of support to me, and my family,” an emotional Dangote told the gathering in Lagos in a speech in which he renamed the road leading to the Dangote Refinery after Wigwe.
