Nigerian army chief Ibrahim Attahiru killed in plane crash, along with 10 officers
- The general’s death came as news was emerging that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had been seriously wounded in clashes with a rival faction
- Attahiru was newly appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in January in a shake-up of the top military command to better combat jihadists
Nigeria‘s top-ranking army commander Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru and other officers were killed on Friday when their plane crashed in bad weather in the country’s north, officials said.
Chief of Army Staff Attahiru was only appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in January as part of a shake-up of the top military command to better fight surging violence and a more than decade-long jihadist insurgency.
Attahiru died as news also emerged that Nigeria‘s Boko Haram jihadist leader Abubakar Shekau had himself been seriously wounded or possibly killed after clashes with a rival Islamic State-allied faction.
President Buhari, a former general first elected in 2015, has been under increasing pressure from allies and critics alike over his government‘s handling of mounting security problems in Africa’s most populous country.
In a statement, Buhari said the crash “was one mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country”.