The Nigerian Army on Sunday debunked online reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has died abroad of cancer while receiving treatment.
An unconfirmed report in social media that originated from a Nigerian journalist, first announced the death of the Army chief and the news quickly went viral.
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.”
In response to the post on X, the Nigerian Army labelled it as fake news.
However, sources at the Army Headquarters confirmed to our correspondent 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.”
Calls put on the phone number of the Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu were not through, it returns, not reachable at moment .
The Directorate of Army Public Relations is yet to issue official statement either refuting the story or state the health status of Lt.Gen. Lagbaja at the time of filing this report.