Wilfred Machage was said to have collapsed after eating lunch on Saturday afternoon
Tragedy struck the diplomatic community in Nigeria on Saturday as Kenya’s high commissioner to the country, Wilfred Machage, slumped and died in his Abuja home.
He was aged 65.
Machage, who was with his wife when he collapsed, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. He was brought in dead, a source said.
Wilfred Machage, who was a senator in his home country Kenya, was appointed high commissioner to Nigeria in January 2018.
Kenya’s ministry of foreign affairs has released a statement confirming Machage’s demise.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets to announce the sudden death of Hon Dr. Ambassador Wilfred Machage, Kenya High Commissioner to Nigeria, which occurred today,” the statement read.
“Ambassador Machage collapsed at home and was pronounced dead at [the] hospital shortly thereafter at around 12.30 pm this afternoon in Abuja, Nigeria. His wife was with him when this unfortunate incident happened.”
Wilfred Machage’s twin brother, Sospeter Magita, who was Kenya’s ambassador to Russia, told The Standard that he died after eating lunch.
“It is a very sad moment that I have today lost my best friend and confidant,” he was quoted as saying.
After Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was arrested last year in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria for the continuation of his trial, Machage vigorously denied that his country had any role to play in the saga. As it turned out, that was not true.
The Niche
