Nick Imudia, better known for his nearly two decades at Nokia, did not commit suicide, according to a statement from his family on Sunday.

The family did not however disclose the cause of his death, but said investigation was still ongoing by the police to ascertain the cause of his death.

The family however said it was unhappy with the unprofessional manner the media had wrongly characterised the reporting of Nick Imudia’s death as suicide.

The family said this was also supported by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police’s office that had vowed to investigate the sudden death of Nick, saying neither did Nick called his brother in America with instructions on how to distribute his wealth, nor placed a call to his daughter with any instructions.

The family queried: “How come the news was reported so hastily (less than 3 hours from his death) before his family members even knew about it – and the medical team was still trying to resuscitate him at the hospital? The Imudia family wonders!”

The statement said Nick never showed any sign of stress and was not diagnosed as depressed at any point, saying the thought of suicide in the manner portrayed and hastily reported by the news media was suspect.

According to the statement, Nick was full of life and that people who worked closely with him or met him in the last hours prior to the incident surrounding his death were shocked with the media attributing his death to ‘suicide’.

The family added that at his prime age and the level of his achievements, people who knew Nick well were all shocked and did not accept the characterisation of his death as suicide.

The statement said members of Nick’s family did request the media and the general public to allow them to grief their loved one without any unfounded rumour of the circumstances surrounding his death.

Nick reportedly killed himself on the night of Tuesday, June 25, by jumping from the balcony of his Lagos apartment.

He was 45 years at the time of his death and was the CEO of D.light, leading innovator in the distribution and financing of residential solar energy solutions and transformational household products

Nick was former regional director for TCL/Alcatel, responsible for Nigeria and Central Africa Operations.

Before joining TCL/Alcatel, Nick was the GM/MD of Nokia (now Microsoft Device and Services) for West and Central Africa, a world leader in Mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industry.

For almost 17 years, he worked in Nokia with different responsibilities in the areas of Sales, marketing, Capability Development, management systems, operational excellence, IT and process management.

He had a stint Konga, Nigeria’s eCommerce powerhouse. (Text, excluding headline: Nigeria Communications Week)

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