News of COAS’ demise fake – Nigerian Army
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The Nigerian Army has refuted report circulating on social media platforms on Sunday about demise of the Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja.
The Nigerian Army via its official social media platforms immediately refuted the report, tagging it as fake news.
The DEFENDER reports that news of Lagbaja’s purported death was coming a day after the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, dismissed insinuations that, by his absence, there was a vacuum in leadership of the service.
Nwachukwu, who said the Chief of Army Staff had proceeded on official leave and medical checkup, also announced that Chief of Policy and Plans (Army), Major General Abdulsalami Bagudu Ibrahim, would act on behalf of the COAS in his absence.
“Before proceeding on leave, necessary protocols were put in place for the Chief of Policy and Plans (Army), Maj.-Gen. Abdulsalami Ibrahim, to act on behalf of the COAS, while he is away.
“This is not peculiar to the army as there have been instances where unforeseen human frailty kept service chiefs away for about three months, and their Chiefs of Policy and Plans held sway in their absence,” he said.
