The Nigeria Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru has died in an air crash with some of his aides.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru and his wife, Fati, have died in a plane crash involving a Nigerian Air Force aircraft.
The couple and six other military officers died near Kaduna airport where the Chief of Army Staff was billed to commission a project in one of the military formations in Kaduna State.
Military sources said Gen. Attahiru was on a trip to Kaduna. Efforts were on to locate the wreckage of the plane and evacuate the remains of the victims. His mission to Kaduna was said to be “official.”
The plane, which crashed around 6pm on Friday, according to a source, exploded and got burnt completely.
A competent source from the Airport told The Nation all the crew members and passengers numbering 12 died in the crash.
The Nigeria Airforce, in a statement by its Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet confirmed the crash.
The statement said: “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.”
He was a member of the Regular Course 35 of the Nigerian Defence Academy.
Before his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff, he was the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu.
He was also a former Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole.
