Lagbaja, new COAS, promises to lead disciplined army

Major General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, the new chief of army staff, has declared himself prepared to lead an army that will be professional and disciplined.

Speaking to a sizable group of senior military officers and heads of various departments within the army, Lagbaja made this statement on Friday during the handover ceremony at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.

Moreover, he noted that under his predecessor, the Army had experienced previously unheard-of careful resource management and the acquisition of military equipment.

The 23rd Chief of Army Staff pledged to build on the legacy left by his predecessor and urged those who were leaving the military to not prevent the Nigerian Army from using their expertise whenever it was needed.

I pledge to lead an army that will be professional and disciplined, he said.

The Boko Haram insurgency was at its height when Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, took office in 2021, but he said he is leaving it better than he found it. Yahaya also spoke at the event.

On May 27, 2021, the day after Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru tragically passed away in an aeroplane crash along with 10 other military personnel, former President Muhammadu Buhari named Yahaya as the new army chief.

He oversaw Operation Hadin Kai, the Northeast counterinsurgency operation, as its theatre commander before being named army chief.

He exhorted the army to maintain its current successes in the fight against various security threats, such as terrorists, bandits, and crude oil thieves.