Retired Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe, who played several roles in a number of military regimes in Nigeria, passed away today in New York City, SaharaReporters has confirmed.
Retired Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe, who played several roles in a number of military regimes in Nigeria, passed away today in New York City, SaharaReporters has confirmed.
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A source close to the family told our correspondent that Mr. Akhigbe breathed his last at 1.06 p.m. (New York time). He was surrounded by his wife, his children, and their spouses, our source disclosed.
The cause of death was throat cancer, said the source. SaharaReporters learnt that the former military administrator of Ondo and Lagos States first experienced symptoms of his disease in 2010. He was engaged in President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign at the time, but took a leave to fly to Germany where doctors gave him the grim diagnosis. For three years, he underwent treatment for his cancer in Germany, the UK and the United States of America before finally succumbing to the disease earlier today. Over the last one month, the former naval officer received treatment at the Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Hospital in Manhattan. The hospital is one of the top treatment facilities for cancer in the world.
The Nigerian Consulate in New York also confirmed Mr. Akhigbe’s death, adding that they were conferring with the late officer’s family on plans to convey his remains back to Nigeria for burial.
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Mr. Akhigbe worked under military regimes led by Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, and Abdulsalami Abubakar, holding positions at various times as a governor or member of the armed forces ruling council. He rose to become the Chief of General Staff under the Abdulsalami Abubakar regime. He was retired from military service in 1999 just as Olusegun Obasanjo took over power as Nigeria’s elected president.
The late naval officer, who hailed from Edo State, was 67 years old.
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