IN PHOTOS: Lagbaja, the army chief ‘who led from the front’

From his days as a junior officer to the days he led a brigade, a division, and then the entire army, Lagbaja had always led from the front. He didn’t sit back and send his soldiers to the frontline; the gallant infantry officer called the shots right from the battlefield.

Having led several battles on the field, Lagbaja breathed his last on November 5 after battling an undisclosed ailment.

Lagbaja, who was appointed chief of army staff (COAS) by President Bola Tinubu on June 19, 2023, was 56.

He was the 23rd chief of army staff.

“His distinguished military career began when he enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1987,” Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to the president, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“On September 19, 1992, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Nigerian Infantry Corps as a member of the 39th Regular Course.

“Throughout his service, Lt. General Lagbaja demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment, serving as a platoon commander in the 93 Battalion and the 72 Special Forces Battalion.”

Below are some photos of Lagbaja as COAS

President Tinubu decorated Lagbaja as chief of army staff in April 2023, with Lagbaja’s wife, Mariya, helping out

Lagbaja stepped out from an armoured tank during his maiden visit to the army engineering depot in Kaduna

The late CoAS chatting with students in Osun state | September 10, 2024

Lagbaja paid a condolence visit to Rabi Garba Duba, widow of the late Lieutenant General Garba Duba, who passed on May 17, 2024, at his Abuja residence in the Federal Capital Territory.

Lagbaja inside an amoured tank with senior officers during his maiden visit to the army engineering depot in Kaduna

Lagbaja addressing troops at 17 brigade barracks in Katsina

Lagbaja joined troops to do push-ups in Plateau

Taoreed Lagbaja, late chief of army staff, presenting folded flags to the daughter of one of the officers who was killed in Okuama