Nigeria’s former military vice president, Mike Okhai Akhigbe, is dead, his family has confirmed.
His elder brother, Alemon Akhigbe, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that the former chief of genetal staff during the military era had battled cancer and finally threw in the towel on Monday at the age of 68.
Akhigbe died in a hospital in New York.
News about his death was first reported in the media over the weekend but his family had dismissed the report as misleading, unprofessional and an embarrassment to the family.
The Nigerian Navy on Monday also urged the public to disregard the information and advised journalists to authenticate their stories with relevant authorities before going to press, in the spirit of objective journalism.
Akhigbe, who hails from Edo State served as the vice president of Nigeria during the Abdusalam Abubakar- led military government from 1998 till the termination of military government in Nigeria, in 1999.
He was also the chief of general staff in the administration Ibrahim Babangida and as governor of Ondo and Lagos states.
Akhigbe attended the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, Royal Naval School of Maritime Operations Dryad, Southwick the United Kingdom, Command and Staff College Jaji, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru and University of Poitiers, Rouan, France.
He was a lawyer with special interest in maritime and real estate law.