Nigeria is in grief with the death of Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who died in Lagos on Tuesday after a lengthy illness, while the globe observes events in the US surrounding the election of the 47th US President.
The nation’s military leadership suffered a devastating blow when Lagbaja passed away just a year after President Bola Tinubu appointed him.
According to reports, President Tinubu nominated 56-year-old Olufemi Oluyede as acting Chief of Army Staff on Friday, November 1, until Lagbaja’s anticipated return from medical vacation. Olufemi was only raised to the rank of Lieutenant General on Tuesday. However, it was not to be.
In addition, Lagbaja’s passing is the third death of an Army Chief since the Nigerian Civil War and the second in three years.
A synopsis of two further Army Chiefs who passed away while in office is provided below:
1. Joseph Akahan (August 1967): Appointed just before the Nigerian Civil War broke out in 1967, Akahan visited the frontlines at Nsukka, in the now-defunct Eastern Region, before dying in a helicopter crash en route to his village of Gboko in modern-day Benue State.
In May 2021, Tukur Buratai, the COAS, passed away a few months into his position. While on an official assignment from Abuja to Kaduna State, Attahiru and ten members of his entourage perished when his aircraft apparently encountered severe weather conditions and crashed.
