President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff.
He replaces Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru, who died in an air crash last Friday.
This was contained in a statement on Thursday by the military spokesperson, Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu.
In April 2020, he was named theatre commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, the military’s campaign in the North-East, recently renamed Operation Hadin Kai.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff.
“Prior to his appointment Major-General Yahaya was the General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Nigerian Army and the incumbent Theatre Commander of the Counter terrorism Counter Insurgency military outfit in the North East code-named Operation HADIN KAI,” the statement added.
His appointment came barely six days after the former Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 officers lost their lives in a plane crash in Abuja.
It was the third air disaster this year for the military, which is fighting a decade-long insurgency in the North-East, kidnap gangs in the North-West and separatist agitations South-West and South-East.
