The family of the late former Chief Executive of e-commerce giant, Konga, Nick Imudia, has refuted reports that he killed himself, stating that investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of his death.
The family, in a statement, dismissed reports that Imudia had made farewell calls to his brother and daughter, leaving instructions before his passing, describing these claims as untrue.
Leadership Newspaper reports in a statement signed by Dr. Anthony N. Imudia on behalf of the family, the family condemned the reportage of the news of the former Konga CEO’s death whilst the family was in the hospital trying to resuscitate him.
The statement, as reported by Leadership, read, “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 hastily (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!
“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.”
According to the family, Imudia was in Lagos for a brief visit after traveling to the Netherlands, and was scheduled to return to Nairobi the very next day when his sudden death occurred.
“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’.
“At his prime age and the level of his achievements, people who knew Nick well are all shocked and do not accept the characterisation 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,” the statement added.
PUNCH Online, which could not independently obtain the statement, had reported on Thursday that Imudia, who was until his death, the CEO of D.light International, died by suicide at his residence in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident to PUNCH Online on Thursday, after media reports went viral.
Hundeyin said, “Yes, it is true. He allegedly committed the act on June 25. An investigation has commenced at the homicide section, SCID, Yaba.”
