Major General Taoreed Lagbaja has assumed command as the 23rd Chief of Army Staff of the Nigerian Army and said that he is ready to run an army that will be driven by discipline and professionalism.
The handover ceremony took place at the Army Headquarters in Abuja, on Friday, June 23, 2023.
Speaking after the handover, Lagbaja said unprecedented prudent management of resources and procurement of military hardware under his predecessor.
The 23rd Chief of Army Staff also promised to improve on the legacy of his predecessor, urging those who are disengaging from service not to deny the Nigerian Army the opportunity to tap into their experiences whenever the need calls for it.
“I promise to run an army that will be driven by discipline and professionalism,” he said
lso speaking at the event, the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, said the Boko Haram insurgency was at its peak when he assumed office in 2021, but he is leaving it better than he met it.
Yahaya was appointed army chief by former President Muhammadu Buhari on May 27, 2021, after the tragic death of Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, who died in an air crash alongside 10 other officers and men of the army on May 21.
Before he was appointed army chief, he was the theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, the counter-insurgency operation in the Northeast.
He urged the army to sustain its ongoing gains against various security threats, including terrorists and bandits, and crude oil thieves.
