COAS: Buhari Phones As Aisha Personally Visits Late Army Chief’s Family

President Muhammadu Buhari has phoned the widow of the late Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, who alongside 10 other military officers died in a plane crash on Friday. 

Buhari spoke to Mrs. Fati Ibrahim Attahiru on Sunday night, urging her to take solace in the nationwide expression of “extraordinary feelings of emotions” on the sad incident. 

Advertisement

The president also spoke to the widows of other officers who died in the ill-fated aircraft through Mrs Attahiru in her capacity as the national president of the Nigerian Army Officers Wives Association (NAOWA). 

THE WHISTLER reported that the officers were buried amidst tears at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja on Saturday. 

Buhari’s senior media assistant, Garba Shehu, said the president described the late COAS as an “outstanding soldier and an institution builder, who fought valiantly for Nigeria until he breathed his last.” 

Attahiru had barely spent four months as the country’s 25th Chief of Staff when the sad incident occurred. 

Advertisement

He took over from the retired Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai on January 26, 2021. 

Shehu said President Buhari, “hailed the sacrifices of the military men who lost their lives and the Armed Forces in general, saying that Nigerians will continue to appreciate and support the fearlessness with which our courageous soldiers are confronting the threats facing the nation.

“He gave the grieving spouses assurances that the nation will never forget the supreme sacrifice of their spouses, urging them to take solace in the surge of extraordinary feelings of emotions across regions, religions and tribes all over the country in appreciation of their sacrifices.”

Shehu also noted that President Buhari had earlier directed the Defence Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence to, “do everything a government can do to provide comfort and ease the hardships of the families of the deceased”. 

Earlier on Sunday, the president’s wife, Aisha Buhari, led some members of the first family on a condolence visit to Attahiru’s residence. 

Advertisement

Buhari’s failure to personally attend the burial of the late military officers had been criticised on social media. 

The First Lady shard photos of her visit on her Twitter account Sunday, describing the officers’ deaths as “a monumental loss to their families and the Nation at large.”

Leave a comment

Advertisement