Access Bank CEO, Wigwe, 5 others perish in helicopter crash

Six people, including the Group Chief Executive Officer of one of Nigeria’s largest lenders, Access Bank, have been killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California on Friday, authorities said.

This is according to Reuters, monitored by Zambia Monitor on Sunday.

Six people were on board the helicopter when it crashed around 10 p.m. near Nipton, California, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Access Bank Group Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe’s death was confirmed by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in a post on X, along with that of Nigerian Exchange Group’s former Chairman Abimbola Ogunbanjo.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said the scene of the crash was determined to be east of the 15-Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road, adding that no survivors had been located as of Saturday.

The FAA identified the helicopter as a Eurocopter EC 130 and said it would investigate along with the National Transportation Safety Board.

The helicopter was headed to Las Vegas when it crashed near a border city between Nevada and California, according to multiple reports.

In Zambia, Access Bank has just taken over Atlas Mara and its combined Bank would make Access the third largest Bank in Zambia.

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