As Nigerian’s were already in fear for countrymen aboard the Bellview 737 aircraft that disappeared shortly after take off, an announcement came that the wife of Olusegan Obasanjo, the country’s first lady, Stella Obasanjo, had died in Spain. Stella Obasanjo, age 59, was in Spain for an operation and apparently died due to complications.
 
According to Spanish officials an autopsy will be carried out in Malaga before her body is returned to Nigeria. Mrs Obasanjo was a controversial figure who had ordered the arrest of a newspaper publisher earlier this year. Orobosa Omo-Ojo was held after his newspaper, the Midwest Herald, ran an article entitled "Greedy Stella".
 
In a television broadcast announcing the death of the president’s wife, presidential spokeswoman Remi Oyo said books of condolence had been opened at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja, the State House Marina in Lagos, and at the President’s home in Otta.