Nigeria’s top military commander dies in plane crash
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru has died in a plane crash near the town of Kaduna, north of the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
The Nigerian Air Force confirmed that one of its planes crashed near the Kaduna International Airport late on Friday. Attahiru was among the eight people on the aircraft, which was carrying a group of high-ranking military commanders to the town of Kaduna, some 180 kilometers north of Abuja.
An air crash involving a @NigAirForce aircraft occurred this evening near the Kaduna International Airport. The immediate cause of the crash is still being ascertained. More details to follow soon.Edward GabkwetAir CommodoreDirector of Public Relations and Information21/5/21 pic.twitter.com/N01V2M6qUc
— Nigerian Air Force (@NigAirForce) May 21, 2021
The reasons behind the incident are still unknown. “The immediate cause of the crash is still being ascertained,” Air Force spokesman Edward Gabkwet said in a statement.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, has confirmed the death of Attahiru, calling the slain military officials “heroes who paid the ultimate price for peace and security in the land.”
Deeply saddened by the air crash that claimed the lives of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and other military officers. All of them are heroes who paid the ultimate price for peace and security in the land.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) May 21, 2021
Expressing condolences to the families of the victims, the Nigerian leader said that the incident dealt “one mortal blow to our [Nigeria’s] underbelly,” vowing that the deaths of the commanders “will not be in vain.”
This crash is one mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our Armed Forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country. My condolences to the families of the deceased, the entire military, and all Nigerians. The deaths of these officers will not be in vain!
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) May 21, 2021
Attahiru took his post following a major military reshuffle in January. Earlier, he was commanding the 82nd Infantry Division in the Nigerian Army. Buhari appointed Attahiru and some other top military officials amid ongoing violent insurgencies in Nigeria’s north, where the army is facing Boko Haram Islamists as well as other extremist groups affiliated with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and separatists.
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