President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed the Theatre Commander of the Counter Insurgency Operation in the Northeast, Maj. Gen. Farouk Yahaya as the Chief of Army Staff.
He would replace Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, who died in a plane crash on May 21.
Gen. Yahaya’s appointment was announced in a terse statement by Acting Defence Information Director Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu.
The statement reads: “The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Mohammadu Buhari, has appointed Maj.-Gen. Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff.
“Prior to his appointment, Maj.-Gen. Yahaya was the general officer commanding 1 Division of the Nigerian Army and the incumbent Theatre Commander of the Counterterrorism, Counter Insurgency military outfit in the Northeast code-named Operation Hadin Kai.”
Gen Yahaya’s appointment may force some majors-general who are his seniors into mandatory retirement. The senior generals are members of Regular Course 35 and 36.
He belongs to the 37 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).
He was born on January 5, 1966 in Sifawa, Bodinga Local Government Area of Sokoto State. He started his cadet training September 27, 1985, and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps on September 22, 1990.
He has held several appointments, including Staff, Instructional and Command.
