The Nigerian Army on Sunday denied reports making the rounds in the media that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, has died.
Several stories based on a social media post by a Nigerian journalist proclaiming the military chief’s death went viral on Sunday.
The journalist reported that Lagbaja had died of cancer 48 hours earlier.
The post read, “The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, has died. Lagbaja died in an undisclosed hospital overseas nearly 48 hours ago from stage three cancer, according to a senior government official.
“The death of the Chief of Army Staff has been kept secret because of intense lobbying by some generals who want to take the position.
“Lagbaja, born on February 28, 1968, in Ilobu, Osun State, was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in June 2023, as the 27th Chief of Army Staff.”
Reacting to the statement on X, the military described it as fake news.
Sources at the Force Headquarters confirmed to our correspondent that Lagbaja was critically ill.
One of the sources said, “COAS is not dead. He is only critically ill at the moment. We should be praying for him at this critical time and not spreading rumours that he died.”
Another source stated that he was out of the country to treat himself.
“He is out of the country for treatment. And I have not heard of his death from anyone around him. There is no way such information could be hidden,” the source said.
At the time of filing this report, the Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, had yet to comment on the report.
