Nigeria's top army commander killed in air crash
Chief of Army Staff Major General Ibrahim Attahiru is seen at the theatre command operations Lafiya Dole headquarters in Maiduguri, Nigeria on January 31, 2021.
Nigeria's army chief, Lt-Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, has been killed in a plane crash, officials say.
Other top officials who perished in the crash include Brigadier General M. Abdulkadir, Brigadier General S. Olayinka and Brigadier General A. Kuliya.
The aircraft crashed near the Kaduna International Airport at about 6pm on Friday.
Officials said the plane crashed because of bad weather.
The Nigerian Air Force plane was initially scheduled to land at the NAF Base, but was diverted to the Kaduna airport due to bad weather.
Following the crash, President Muhammadu Buhari condoled with families of the victims and the military describing them as “heroes who paid the ultimate price for peace and security in the land.”
The President added the crash “is one mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country.”
Lt-Gen Attahiru was appointed Chief of Army Staff in January this year by President Buhari.
He is a graduate of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Armed Forces Command and Staff College and Nigerian Army School of Infantry.
He started cadets training in January 1984 and was commissioned into the rank of Second Lieutenant in December 1986 as an Infantry Officer.
He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Management and Policy Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy.
Mr Yahaya Bello, the Governor of Kogi State in north central Nigeria, described as shocking the death of Lt-Gen Attahiru.
Bello described the death of the army chief as a colossal loss to Nigeria particularly at such a time when the country was confronting numerous insecurity challenges in different parts of the country.
