Report on the death of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja, on Wednesday, was received with surprise by some Nigerians while some were not, saying it had been in the news for a while.
Lagbaja, who passed away on Tuesday in Lagos at 56 after a period of illness died barely a year after he was appointed by President Bola Tinubu, marking a tragic blow to the nation’s military leadership.
President Tinubu had on Friday, November 1, appointed 56-year-old Olufemi Oluyede, who was only promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General on Tuesday, as acting Chief of Army Staff, pending the expected return of Lagbaja from medical leave. But that was not to be.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga wrote in a Wednesday morning statement.
“President Tinubu expresses his heartfelt condolences to the family and the Nigerian Armed Forces during this difficult time. He wishes Lt. General Lagbaja eternal peace and honours his significant contributions to the nation,” Mr Onanuga wrote.
He was rumoured dead two weeks ago but the Defence Headquarters debunked the news, explaining that he was on leave.
Lagbaja’s background
Mr Lagbaja was appointed as the army chief by President Tinubu on 19 June 2023
He was born on 28 February 1968, in Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State. He lived his early life in Osogbo where he attended St Charles Grammar School and Local Authority Teachers College.
He was admitted into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in 1987 as a member of the 39th Regular Course. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 19th September 1992 into the Nigerian Infantry Corps.
Between 1992 and 1995, Mr Lagbaja was platoon commander of the 93 Battalion. From 1995 to 2001, he was platoon commander of 72 Special Forces Battalion. In 2001, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the Nigerian Defence Academy. He studied Strategic Studies at the US Army War College at the Master’s level.
He was an instructor at Nigerian Defence Academy between 2001 and 2004. He was a Grade 2 Staff Officer in charge of peacekeeping at the Army Headquarters Department of Army Training and Operations. Then he was a Directing Staff at Armed Forces Command and Staff College from 2006 – 2009.
By 2009, he became Deputy Chief of Staff G1 at Headquarters 81 Division and subsequently, he became Commanding Officer at 72 Special Forces Battalion Makurdi from 2012 to 2013 and 2014 to 2015.
In 2016, he was named the Chief of Staff at Headquarters 8 Task Force Division, Monguno. He served as Director of Operations at the Army Headquarters Department of Army Training and Operations from January – December 2018. He was a Commander of Headquarters 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Lagos State and Headquarters 2 Brigade, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Before he was appointed as army chief, Mr Lagbaja was General Officer Commanding Headquarters 82 Division from March 2021 – August 2022 and Headquarters 1 Division – from August 2022 – June 2023.
Earlier in 2008, he attended the Military Observers Course on Peacekeeping Wing at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry Jaji (February – May 2008) and ECOWAS Standby Force Battalion Command Post Course – Peacekeeping Centre, Bamako, Mali – (June – August 2010).
He started his career as a second lieutenant and died as a lieutenant general, a rank he attained in September 2019.
The deceased was married to Mariya Abiodun-Lagbaja and their marriage was blessed with two children.
Lagbaja’s death however marks the second time an Army Chief will die in three years, and the third since the Nigerian Civil War.
Hereunder is a brief about two other Army Chiefs who died in office:
1. Joseph Akahan (August 1967): Appointed shortly before the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967, Akahan died in a helicopter crash on his way to his hometown of Gboko in present-day Benue State, after visiting the frontlines in Nsukka, in the defunct Eastern Region.
2. Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru, appointed in January 2021 to replace Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai as COAS, died just months into his tenure in May 2021. Attahiru died when his aircraft reportedly encountered severe weather conditions and crashed, killing him and 10 members of his entourage while on an official assignment from Abuja to Kaduna State.
