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According to reports, the helicopter crashed on Friday night close to a border city between Nevada and California, killing five other people on board when it was en route to Las Vegas.

Unverified sources stated that Wigwe and his wife, Chizoba, and their son were also involved in the mishap.

As of Saturday morning, according to the New York Times, no survivors had been found, according to the officials.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) disclosed that a helicopter crashed Friday night near Nipton, California, with six people on board.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that no survivor has been found as of Saturday morning.

The FAA identified the aircraft as a Eurocopter EC 130.

Herbert Wigwe was an astute banker and top-notch entrepreneur who was born in Ibadan, Oyo State on 15 August 1966.

He had a degree in Accountancy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State. He also had an MA in Banking and Finance from the University College of North Wales (now Bangor), and an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London.

He was the CEO of Access Holdings Plc, traded as Access Corporation until his death. Herbert was the Group Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank plc, one of Nigeria’s top five banking institutions, after succeeding his business partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede from January 2014 till April 2022.

Wigwe served as the Chairman of Access Bank Ghana Limited, Access Investment & Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS), and was the Chairman of Access Bank (UK) Limited.

He is a board member of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company and a member of the Advisory Board for Friends Africa. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN – FCA), a Fellow of The Institute of Credit Administration, and an Honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.

In 2016, in recognition of “his exemplary role in the society and contributions to youth development”, the Boys’ Brigade (BB), inaugurated Herbert Wigwe, as State Patron for Lagos State Council in 2016.

Also,  Vanguard and The Sun, foremost Nigeria’s newspapers in 2016 named Wigwe as the Banker of The Year.

In 2021, he was also recognised as the African Banker of the Year at the 2021 edition of the African Banker Awards.

In October 2022, a Nigerian National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) was conferred on him by President Muhammadu Buhari.