THE late chief of Army Staff (COAS), Taoreed Lagbaja, will be laid to rest in Abuja on Friday, November 11.
Lagbaja’s immediate elder brother, Moshood Lagbaja, stated this at Osogbo, Osun State,, when the St. Charles Grammar School Osogbo Old Boys Association (SCOBA) paid the late COAS family condolence visit.
He guaranteed the visitors that Lagbaja would have a respectable burial in Abuja on Friday but stated that the military was unable to deliver his remains to them.
The delegation delivered a letter of condolence signed by the association’s general secretary, Leye Odetoyinbo, and global president, Tade Adekunle, to the family.
The delegation’s leader and first vice president, Adesina Salami, spoke on behalf of SCOBA and described the late Lagbaja as a remarkable person, a proud Charlean, and a great military leader who served the country with unshakable dedication.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the death of Lagbaja on Wednesday, November 6. Lagbaja reportedly died at age 56.
This was in a statement issued by the special adviser to the President, on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on his X account on Wednesday.
Lagbaja passed away on Tuesday night in Lagos after a period of illness.
The ICIR reported that the Nigerian Army dismissed the rumoured death of the Lagbaja in October.
The rumour of his death, which originated from a tweet by Jackson Ude, a former presidential aide and social media commentator, went viral on social media.
Reacting to the tweet in a post on X, the Army spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, a brigadier general, urged Nigerians to ignore the post.
He, however, said Lagbaja was on official leave, and proper procedures were put in place for Abdulsalami Ibrahim, a major general and the chief of policy and plans of the Army, to act in his place.
Nwachukwu argued that Lagbaja’s absence was not disrupting the Army’s operations.
However, The ICIR reported on October 30 that the president appointed Olufemi Oluyede, a major general, to act in Lagbaja’s place.
According to a statement by the president’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, Oluyede will act in the position pending when Lagbaja, whom the presidency said was indisposed, returns to Nigeria.
Lagbaja military career began when he enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in 1987. On September 19, 1992.
He is survived by his wife Mariya and their two children.
A reporter with the ICIR
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