Messages of condolence don dey come in for di late Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, wey die for inside plane crash as e dey travel go Kaduna from Abuja on Friday, 21 May, 2021.
Inside one statement from di army, dem confam say di crash also claim di lives of 10 oda officers including di crew.
Di death of Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru dey come barely four months wey im assume office as Nigeria Chief of Army Staff for January 2021.
- Burial for Chief of Army Staff and six senior officers wey die for plane crash go happun today
- Nigeria military confirm death of Chief of Army Staff
Di tributes
President Muhammadu Buhari describe di crash as “a mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our Armed Forces dey ready to end di security challenges wey dey face di kontri.”
Di president express im deep sadness over di incident as e promise say di deaths of di officers will not be in vain.
Former Nigeria Vice-President and presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar say, “na dark day for di nation. Di loss of COAS Major Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and odas today send a rude shock across Nigeria and our friends worldwide.”
Atiku also send im sympathy to di Commander-in-Chief and di armed forces as e pray make Attahiru family and oda affected families dey comforted at dis time.
Di Govnor of Kaduna state for wia di COAS bin dey travel go wen di crash happen also send im greetings.
KDSG has received with immense sadness news of the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and other military officers in a plane crash this evening.
Malam Nasir @elrufai extends his condolences to the families of the victims, the military and the President pic.twitter.com/FYz7WpERZk
— Governor Kaduna (@GovKaduna) May 21, 2021
Govnor Nasir El-Rufai say e receive di news with great sadness as e send im greetings to di families of those wey dey affected.
‘Experienced officer’
Di Govnor of Edo state Godwin Obaseki describe di late Chief of Army staff as an experienced and gallant officer.
For im condolence message, Govnor Obaseki hail di late Lt. Gen. Attahiru as officer wey serve Nigeria meritoriously, as im bring im skill, experience and expertise to fight di war against terror.
Di govnor wey express shock at di news of di crash also pray for souls of those wey lost dia lives in di unfortunate incident while e ask di military to continue dia patriotic efforts to secure di kontri.
Delta state Govnor Ifeanyi Okowa don also send im greetings.
Edith and I are extremely sad to learn about the passing of the recently appointed Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru. We pray that Almighty God grants his family, friends, and the entire Armed Forces the strength that is needed at this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/KS1ThWpkgI
— Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa (@IAOkowa) May 21, 2021
Kogi state Govnor Yaya Bello describe di death of di COAS as “ogbonge loss to Nigeria particularly at such a time wen di kontri dey face all dis plenti insecurity challenges in different parts of di kontri”.
While e tok sorry to di family, friends and associate of di late COAS, Bello describe Lt. General Attahiru as a hero wey give im all to di service of im fatherland and die on di line of duty.
US and UK
Messages also come in from abroad.
Di UK High Commissioner to Nigeria Catriona Laing send sorry message on behalf of her kontri, after di tori comot.
While di US mission to di kontri tweet say: “Attahiru death na big loss to Nigeria… we offer our deepest sympathy to di family of General Attahiru and to di families of all those wey die”.
