Nigeria’s army chief Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Atahiru is killed in a plane crash. News agency Reuters has given this information by quoting sources from the army.
Nigeria’s army chief, general officer Ibrahim Attahiru, died during a plane crash on Friday when he was on a political visit to the northern state of Kaduna, which had security challenges in recent months, the presidency said.
The air force said during a statement that its plane crashed near Kaduna airport which it had been investigating the cause.
The presidency said the military general and other military officers died within the crash on Friday.
President Muhammadu Buhari, during a presidency statement, described the crash as a “mortal blow … at a time our soldiers are poised to finish the safety challenges facing the country.”
The crash occurred three months after Nigerian air force passenger plane went down just outside Abuja airport following alleged breakdown , killing all seven people on board.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has had poor air safety record within the past, although it’s improved in recent years.
Buhari appointed Attahiru alongside other military chiefs in January after years of mounting criticism over spreading violence by Islamist insurgents and armed gangs.
Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, have waged a decade-long insurgency estimated to possess displaced about 2 million people and killed quite 30,000. they need to make states supported their extreme interpretation of Islamic shariah
