Oluwatosin Enesi
The family said in a statement that investigations were still ongoing on the cause of his death as suicide had been ruled out.
Refuting news reports that Imudia had called his brother and daughter with instructions before his death, the family, in a statement signed by Dr. Anthony N. Imudia, said reportage of the news of the one-time Konga CEO’s death whilst the family was in the hospital trying to resuscitate him was suspicious.
The statement reads: “The family of Nick Imudia is unhappy with the unprofessional manner the media has wrongly characterised the reporting of Nick Imudia’s death as suicide. This is also supported by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police’s office that has vowed to investigate the sudden death of Nick. Neither did Nick call his brother in America with instructions on how to distribute his wealth, nor placed a call to his daughter with any instructions.
“How come the news was reported so hastilly (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!”
Stating that the former Konga CEO comes from a close-knit family where support abounds, the family added, “Nick never showed any sign of stress and he was not diagnosed as depressed at any point. The thought of suicide in the manner portrayed and hastily reported by the news media is suspect.
“Nick Imudia, until his death was the Group CEO of D.light International with Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was residing. He managed the company’s worldwide operations from Nairobi. Nick was full of life and people that 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’.
“He was on a short visit to Lagos after a brief trip to the Netherlands and was to return to Nairobi a day after his sudden death. Nick made his initial career mark with Nokia, the Finnish based Telecommunication Company before he was transferred from Helsinki to manage Nokia Asia operations in Singapore.
“Later in his career with Nokia, he was appointed as the Managing Director of Nokia – West and Central Africa. When Microsoft bought Nokia, he opted to leave the company. Looking for a new challenge, he became the CEO of Konga Nigeria where he reengineered the company’s operation.
“At his prime age and the level of his achievements, people who knew Nick well are all shocked and do not accept the characterization of his death as suicide. Members of Nick’s family do 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.”
Our Reporter
