Army Debunks Gen. Lagbaja’s Death Rumour, Says: COAS is Alive

The Nigerian Army has debunked a viral report that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has died in a foreign hospital from complications of cancer.

An online medium had posted a report saying that Lagbaja had succumbed to cancer 48 hours before. The report set social media on fire with several outlets latching on it.

This was how the online medium reported the story: “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.”

However, and according to the Punch newspaper, sources at the Nigerian Army Headquarters, Abuja, punctured the story, describing it as fake news.

But the referenced sources confirmed that General Lagbaja was critically ill.

The newspaper quoted a source as saying: “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.”

The newspaper quoted another source which disclosed that the Army Chief had travelled abroad for medical treatment.

“He is out of the country for treatment,” said the source. “I have not heard of his death from anyone close to him. There is no way such information could be hidden.”

Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, was said to be unreachable at the time of the report.