BY ADAM BEAM, CHINEDU ASADU AND STEFANIE DAZIO

Nigerian leaders Sunday mourned the death of the CEO of one of the country’s largest banks after he and five others were killed Friday in a helicopter crash in Southern California’s Mojave Desert.

Herbert Wigwe, chief executive of Access Bank, and his wife and son were among the six people on board when the aircraft went down shortly after 10 p.m. near Interstate 15. All six people were killed, including two pilots and Bamofin Abimbola Ogunbanjo, former chair of NGX Group, the Nigerian stock exchange.

Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, grieved the deaths in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Their passing is an overwhelming tragedy that is shocking beyond comprehension,” he wrote. “I pray for the peaceful repose of the departed and ask God Almighty to comfort the multitude of Nigerians who are grieving and the families of the