Nigerian army chief, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, died in a plane crash on Friday. When he was on an official visit to the restive northern state of Kaduna, the Nigerian presidency has announced. Though initially it was reported that the crash happened due to bad weather, but the Nigerian air force has said in a statement that its plane crashed near Kaduna airport and that it was investigating the cause.

President Muhammadu Buhari, in a presidency statement, described the crash as a “mortal blow … at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country.”

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has had a poor air safety record despite efforts for improvements during the recent years. Just 3 months ago, another passenger jet had crashed in Abuja due to engine failure.

President Buhari had appointed, 54 years old, Ibrahim Attahiru alongside other military chiefs in January, earlier this year, in a bid to overhaul Nigerian military top brass.

Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, have waged a decade-long insurgency estimated to have displaced about 2 million people and killed more than 30,000. They want to create states based on their extreme interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

News Desk