General removed for failure to tackle Boko Haram, accused of genocide becomes Army Chief

The new Chief of Army Staff, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, is coming into office with several baggages, chief of them being his sack by his predecessor, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, for operation inefficiency ads Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole battling the Boko Haram insurgency and allegation of genocide in which over 140 persons died in Delta and Anambra States.

Attahiru was appointed the COAS by President Muhammadu Buhari alongside other Service Chief on Tuesday following the resignation of the incumbents with immediate effect.

The other Service Chiefs appointed by Buhari on Tuesday are Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff.

Those they succeeded were Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

Attahiru, who succeeded Irabor as the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole in 2017, was removed by Buratai following several victories over troops under his watch, especially in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, which served as the operational base of the troops.

The marching order given to Attahiru by Buratai was for him to capture dead or alive the then leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, in 40 days.

But he did not.

Aside not capturing Shekau, the successes recorded by Boko Haram Terrorists increased.

Boko Haram attacked Maiduguri a month after he took over.

Two months after he resumed, a group of geologists and technologists from the University of Maiduguri were ambushed by Boko Haram insurgents in Magumeri area, with about 12 soldiers who escorted the academics killed.

Apart from the soldiers, staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on the trip were also kidnapped and killed.

Born on August 10, 1966, Attahiru was also accused of being part of a genocide that led to the death of over 140 persons.

This was when he was the Acting General Officer Commanding, 82 Division in 2015.

A report by the International Society For Civil Liberties and The Rule Of Law listed him as one of those behind the massacre of 140 defenceless citizens of Judeo-Christian faith during the global Igbo Heroes Day in Onitsha and Nkpor, both in Anambra State and Asaba in Delta State on May 29 and 30, 2016.

Attahiru hails from Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State and was a member of the Regular Course 35 of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

He was former Director of Army Public Relations.