The Nigerian Army on Sunday refuted trending reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has died.
The reports, several of them emanating from a social media post by a Nigerian journalist, announced the death of the Army chief, and they went viral afterwards.
The journalist claimed 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 due to intense lobbying by some generals who wish to take the position.
“Lagbaja, born on 28 February 1968 in Ilobu, Osun State, was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in June 2023 as the 27th Chief of Army Staff.”
Responding to the post on X, the Nigerian Army dismissed it as fake news.
According to Punch, sources at the Army Headquarters confirmed to that the Army Chief was critically ill.
One source stated, “The 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 of his death.”
Another source said that he had travelled abroad for medical treatment.
“He is out of the country for treatment. I have not heard of his death from anyone close to him. There is no way such information could be hidden.”
