Mike Akhigbe Is Not Dead...Family Reacts

Former  Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Okhai Akihgbe is lying critically ill in an American hospital.

The former second in command to former military ruler, General Abdusalami Abubakar, has for several months been out of the country for medical treatment in the hospital for undisclosed ailment.

A close family source who spoke on condition of anonymity,  dispelled rumours of his death as reported by a national newspaper  and other online media .

He, however, confirmed that Akhigbe was in critical condition at that hospital, adding that the published news of his death was an embarrassment to the entire Akhigbe family.

“Yes, he is lying critically ill in an American hospital, but he is still alive. The purported death of Mike Akhigbe as reported online and by one of the national daily newspapers is an embarrassment to the entire Akhigbe family,” the source said.

Akhigbe is from Fugar in  Etsako Central Local Government Area of Edo State, southern Nigeria.

He served as the military Vice President of Nigeria during the General Abdusalami Abubakar led military government from 1998 till the termination of military government in Nigeria, in 1999.

Akhigbe had also previously served as Military Governor of Nigeria’s Ondo State and Lagos State, after which he was appointed Chief of Naval Staff, the highest-ranking officer of the Nigerian Navy.

The Nigeria's Consul-General in New York, Ambassador Habib B. Habu, has confirmed that the former Chief of General Staff, Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe is alive and not dead as reported in some section of the media.

Ambassador Habu, who spoke by telephone on Monday, said that there was no iota of truth in the rumour making it round that Akhigbe gave up the ghost on Sunday in a London hospital.

The Nigeria's envoy, who described the rumour as unfortunate, noted that Akhigbe had already been discharged from Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York where he was being treated for cancer.

He further said: "I can confirm to you that the man is not dead. He is much alive and, as I speak to you, he has been discharged from the hospital and he is at his residence in New York.

"The man was not transferred to any London hospital after being admitted at  Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. I have been able to see him, so the rumour of his death. Is very unfortunate."