Nigeria’s military boss, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru died in a plane accident on Friday on an official visit to the northern province of Kaduna, which has had security challenges as of late, the government said.
The air force said in a statement that its plane crashed close to Kaduna air terminal and that it was investigating the reason.
The government said the military general and other military officials passed on in the accident on Friday.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in an official explanation, portrayed the accident as a “mortal blow … at a time our armed forces are ready to end the security challenges confronting the country.”
The accident happened three months after a small Nigerian air force passenger plane went down just outside Abuja air terminal after alleged engine failure, killing the seven people onboard.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has had poor air safety record previously, in spite of the fact that it has improved lately.
Buhari named Attahiru and other military bosses in January following years of mounting criticism over spreading violence by Islamist guerillas and armed gangs.
Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Region, have pursued a long term insurgency that has displaced around 2 million people and killed over 30,000. They want to create states dependent on their extreme understanding of Islamic Sharia law.
