A huge unconfirmed report from the United States indicates that the CEO of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe may have died in a helicopter crash near the California-Nevada border.

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 Herbert Wigwe’s wife, Chizoba, his son, and a former President of Nigeria Exchange Group, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, were all feared dead in the helicopter crash.

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

Below are what to know about Abimbola Ogunbanjo:

Abimbola Ogunbanjo was the Group Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, (NGX Group), the non-operating holding company that emerged from the demutualisation of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) from 2021 to 2022. Prior to this, he was the President of the National Council of the NSE from 2017 to 2021.

Abimbola Ogunbanjo was born in Nigeria to the family of Chris and Hilda Ogunbanjo, OFR, CON, a distinguished and foremost corporate lawyer, industrialist and philanthropist.

He had his early education at Corona School Apapa, University of Lagos Staff School, Claremont School, Hastings, Sussex and Igbobi College, Lagos before proceeding to Millfield School, Street, Somerset, England where he attained his GCE “O” Levels. Bamofin Ogunbanjo holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Business Administration from the American College, Switzerland.

He also holds an LL.B. from the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom. He has Certificates in International Capital Markets and Maritime Law from the New York Institute of Finance and the University of Southampton respectively. He provides pro-bono legal services to the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping and the Chris Ogunbanjo Foundation where he also serves on its board of directors.

Ogunbanjo was a member of the International Bar Association, Nigerian Bar Association, Institute of Petroleum and a registered capital market consultant with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria.

He served as Managing Partner of the renowned, leading corporate law firm of Chris Ogunbanjo LP (Solicitors), a firm he joined in 1990 after a spell as a credit analyst with Chase Manhattan Bank (Nigeria) Limited. He served on the boards of several multinational corporations and non-profit organizations including Beta Glass Plc and the Advisory Board of the University of Buckingham Centre for Extractive Studies. He also served on the Board of GTL Registrars Limited, AIICO Insurance Plc and ConocoPhillips Limited amongst others.

He served as Global Ambassador for the Cervical Cancer-Free Nigeria (CCFN) campaign, an initiative of the Global Oncology (GO), a US-based nonprofit organization supported by Standford University. The CCFN campaign aims to reduce the unnecessary deaths of Nigerian women form cervical cancer, by raising awareness about the safety, efficacy, and availability of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among the Nigerian public.

The Elerunwon of Erunwon-Ijebu in Council headed by his Royal Highness, Alaiyeluwa Oba Johnson Adebayo Adebola Okubena, on 8^th December 2018 conferred on Ogunbanjo the traditional title of Bamofin of Erunwon Ijebu Kingdom, meaning the “father of lawyers”.

On 11^th October 2022, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR conferred the National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), on Bamofin Ogunbanjo for his sterling contributions to the development of the Capital Markets, Corporate law and in recognition of his outstanding virtues and in appreciation of his services to Nigeria. (Sunday Vanguard)

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