Funeral Service has been held for Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja at the National Christian Centre, Abuja.
Present for the funeral service were; First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, senior military personnel from Nigeria and abroad, friends, family members, associates, government officials and members of the diplomatic corps.
The Late Chief of Army Staff was born on 28 February 1968 in Ilobu, lrepodun Local Government Area of Osun State.
He was granted Regular Combatant Commission into the Nigeria Army as a member of the 39th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy on 19 September 1992 as a second lieutenant with seniority on the rank effective 12 September 1987.
General Lagbaja was of the Infantry Corps and attended several courses in and outside Nigeria, where he performed
creditably. These courses include the Company Amphibious Operations Course,Young Officers’ Course (Infantry), Airborne Basic Course,Airborne Advanced Course, Junior Staff Course, and Company Commanders’ Course(Infantry).
He also altended the Senior Staff Course, Military Observers’ Course, Amphibious Staff Operations Course,Commanding Officers’
Course, and the Military Education Level 1 programme in Strategic Land power at The united States Army War College for the academic Year 2014.
While at the United States Army War College, the then Colonel Lagbaja was a member of Seminar 15, and his Research Project for the award Of master of Strategic Studies was on Ethnic nationality Groups and Nigeria’s National security and was supervised by Professor Clarence J. Bouchat of the Department Of distance Learning.
Lieutenant General Lagbaja holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography from the Nigerian Defence Academy and a Masters Degree inStrategic Studies from the United States army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania,United States of America.
Lieutenant General Lagbaja proved himself a professional soldier and earned his promotions when due, the most recent of which was his promotion to the enviable rank of Lieutenant General on 31 July 2023.
In the course of the General’s illustrious career spanning over three decades, he has held diverse appointments cutting across command, staff, instructional, peacekeeping, and operational deployments.
These include an international engagement with the United nations as a Military Observer at the United nations Organization Mission in The Democratic Republic of the Congo(MONUC), Directing Staff at the Nigerian Military’s staff college – the Armed Forces command and Staff College, Jaji, two-time Commanding Officer 72 Special Forces Battalion,Makurdi and Chief of Staff At headquarters 8 Task Force Division,Monguno,Borno State.
Lieutenant General Lagbaja’s intellectual prowess, vast operational expertise, and experience equally made him the preferred choice for the appointment of Acting Director of
Operations at the Nigerian ArmyHeadquarters Department of Training andOperations. At some point, he wasCommander 2 Infantry Brigade Uyo,Commander 9 Infantry Brigade Ikeja-Lagos, and pioneer Director of ForceGeneration Army HeadquartersDepartment of Training and Operations. Hewas also General Officer Commanding 82Amphibious Division, Enugu, and General officer Commanding 1 Mechanized Division,Kaduna.
It is on record that while in the 82 Division as GOC, he led his formation to stem criminalities and activities of secessionist agitators in SouthEast Nigeria. Equally, as GOC 1 Division,he reinvigorated the waned fighting spirit ofhis men to stem criminal activities of bandits, transnational kidnapping syndicates, and terrorist groups operatingin North West Nigeria.
General Lagbaja later served as the Chief of Operations(Army) at the Army HeadquartersDepartment of Army Operations before he was appointed Nigeria’s 23rd Chief of Army Staff on 19 June 2023 by His ExcellencyPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Lieutenant General Lagbaja’s meritorious service to Nigeria and his unrelenting exploits in various theatres of operations within and outside the country have been truly awe-inspiring.
In recognition of his exceptional contributions, he has been conferred several militaryhonors and medals, including the ForcesServices Star, Meritorious Service Star,Distinguished Service Star, and GrandService Star.
His sound intellectualdexterity and exemplary instructional competence earned him the Passed Staff Course (Dagger) award and Fellow United States Arm.
General Lagbaja died in Lagos after a bried illness.
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