The family of Nick Imudia, ex-Konga chief executive who died recently, has expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which their son’s demise was characterised as suicide, describing it as unfortunate.
Nick was reported to have jumped from a storeyed building on June 25.
However, his family said in a statement seen by BusinessDay that contrary to reports, Nick did not call his brother in America with instructions on how to distribute his wealth nor did he place a call to his daughter with any instruction.
“This is also supported by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police’s office that has vowed to investigate the sudden death of Nick,” the statement signed by Anthony Imudia, on behalf of the family, said.
The family wondered why the news was reported in less than three hours from his death, even before they knew about it, and when the medical team was still trying to resuscitate him at the hospital.
Read also: Who was Nick Imudia, late ex-CEO of Konga
“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’,” the family said.
The statement further noted that the young Imudia 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.
“He comes from a close-knit family where support abounds and 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,” the statement noted.
The family said Nick made his initial career mark with Nokia, the Finland-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.”
The family urged the media and the general public to allow them to grieve their loved one without any unfounded rumour regarding the circumstances of his death.
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