The new Chief of Army Staff, Major General Farouk Yahaya has assumed duty on Friday at the Nigerian Army Headquarters Abuja where presented a new Nigerian Army flag.
On arrival at the military headquarters located at area 8 Garki Abuja , General Yahaya drove straight to the office of Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor on a courtesy visit.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of his appointment was announced on Thursday by the Acting Director of Defence Information Brigadier general Onyema Nwachukwu.
General Yahaya later walked into army headquarters complex about and inspected
a smart quarter guards parade mounted by seven soldiers.
On arrival at the parade ground Major General Yahaya presented a new Nigerian Army flag for the replacement of late Lt.General Ibrahim Attahiru’ s Nigerian Army flag which was discarded at his burial on May
22.
The new chief of Army Staff supervised the hosting of his own Nigerian Army flag and watch as it flown full mask. Two other flags; Nigeria flag and Nigerian Armed Forces flags remained half mask in memory of late Chief of Army Staff, General Attahiru.
After the parade, senior army officers and defence correspondents were ushered in to a hall for his address. but the new Chief of Army Staff, Major General Yahaya declined to make any comment except that he ordered a minute silence for late Gen. Attahiru and thereafter asked the journalists to leave the hall along with their microphones.
The Commander -in -Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Mohammadu Buhari appointed Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff on Thursday after the death of Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru who died in an Air Force plane crash on May 21, in Kaduna along ten other senior army officers.
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 detail profile of the new Chief of Army Staff Major General Farouk Yahaya is as follows:
Major General Faruk Yahaya was born on January 5, 1966 in Sifawa, Bodinga Local Government Area of Sokoto state. Maj Gen Yahaya who is a member of the 37 Regular Course of the prestigious Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), started his cadet training on September 27, 1985 and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps on September 22, 1990.
Maj Gen Yahaya has held several appointments including Staff, Instructional and Command. Notable among the appointments held by the new COAS are Garrison Commander Headquarters Guards Brigade, Directing Staff at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Deputy Director Army Headquarters Department of Military Secretary, Deputy Director Army Research and Development and the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Joint Task Force Operation Pulo Shield.
He also served as the Principal General Staff Officer (PGSO) to the Honourable Minister of Defence, the Commander, Headquarters 4 Brigade and 29 Task Force Brigade (Operation Zaman Lafiya). He was also Director Manpower at the Army Headquarters, Military Secretary, Army Headquarters and General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division of the Nigerian Army.
Until his appointment as the COAS, Maj Gen Faruk Yahaya was the Theatre Commander Operation HADIN KAI, responsible for Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency operations in North East Nigeria.
The new COAS is a proud holder of several honours and awards, some of which include, Forces Service Star, Meritorious Service Star, Distinguished Service Star, Grand Service Star, Passed staff course (Dagger), National Defence Course (Chile), Economic Community of West Africa State Monitoring Group Medal, Command Medal, Field Command Medal, General Operations Medal, Silver Jubilee Medal and Golden Jubilee Medal. He is happily married and blessed with children.