The former Chief of Defence Staff under the late General Sani Abacha, General Joshua Dogonyaro, is dead. He died at the age of 80 in Jos, Plateau State.
General Dogonyaro died Thursday morning at the Jos University Teaching Hospital where he was admitted after a brief illness, says a family source.
According to our source, the remains of the former ECOMOG Commander have been deposited at the Airforce Hospital in Jos.
One of the former officers of the deceased, Major Gabriel Adofiku (retd), who confirmed the death said he died on Thursday around 3:30 a.m.
General Dogonyaro was the military tactician that read the coup speech that ousted General Muhammadu Buhari military junta and brought in Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida junta on August 27, 1985.
Born on September 12, 1940; at Vom, Plateau State, the deceased attended Boys’ Secondary School, Gindiri, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, 1964-67, Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Jaji, Armour Officers Course, USA, Armoured Car Troop Leaders Course, UK, Command and Staff College, Jaji, Defence Resources Management Course, USA, National Institute for Policy and Suategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.
He enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1964 and was commissioned Second-Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps, 1967. He became Officer Commanding, 1 Recce Squadron,, 1967-69; Quartermaster General, I Infantry Division (Main 1969-70; Chief Instructor and Adjutant, Rece Training School, 1970-72; Commanding Officer, I Recce Regiment, 1972-76; Principal Staff Officer, Headquarters, Nigerian Army Armoured Corp, 1976-77.
He retired from the military in 1993.
