Simon Faleye, the personal assistant to the late Group Managing Director and CEO of Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe, has recounted how he missed being
Simon Faleye, the personal assistant to the late Group Managing Director and CEO of Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe, has recounted how he missed being on the helicopter that killed his boss, his wife, Chizoba and his first son, Chizi.
On the ill-fated helicopter was Abimbola Ogunbajo, a former chairman of Nigeria Exchange.
Faleye spoke while mourning and eulogising Wigwe at the Night of Tributes.
According to him, he said he was supposed to fly in the chopper but later decided to accompany their luggage by road since the weight of the luggage was too much for the chopper to carry.
He said he got the nod of Wigwe who applauded the idea as a brilliant one.
Afterwards, he headed to Las Vegas, United States by road with the luggage while the rest boarded the helicopter to the same destination.
But on his way, Faleye said he tried calling his boss and the others on the chopper, but none of the calls pulled through.
“Five of us embarked on that journey. I remember Mr Bimbo chatted me and said he wants to come with us, it was a Tuesday. And I told him my boss’ journey is not always straightforward. Sometimes, you can get in the air and divert somewhere else, and he said he was going to wait.
“I said he was still going to Abuja that day, and maybe he’ll be leaving later at midnight, and he said he was going to wait. I still tried to let him understand that we will be in London between Wednesday and Friday and he said he will stay in his house and wait. I really don’t know why I was trying to convince him not board that helicopter, I don’t know. And we all went on that journey.
“We flew from London to Palm Springs. I remember while in the air, I walked up to him. I said sir, how comfortable are you flying chopper at night? I’ve never done it before. And he said a word, he said, ‘This is America, they have navigation systems for flying chopper at night.’
“And I went back to my seat.”
“As they were loading the luggage, this thought started playing in my mind that, okay, you will fly chopper, one hour you are there. The next three and a half hours, the luggage are not going to come. Will I go to bed, no. I will still have to sit down and wait for the luggage to come. I was like so, why not just go with the luggage and get there and deliver to him and others in the room.
“Like I said, I always reason in the line of duty. And I went up to him, I said, sir, I think it’s safer and will be secure for me to just ride and bring the luggage to you. He said, brilliant idea, and I said safe flight.”
