Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has described as shocking and sad the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 others in a plane crash on Friday evening in Kaduna.
Gbajabiamila said this in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Lanre Lasisi on Friday in Abuja.
The Speaker said that the death of the Army Chief was unfortunate coming at a time that the Nigerian military was finding solutions to the security challenges in the country.
He said that having taken over from the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Tukur Buratai, a couple of months ago, Attahiru had shown a lot of commitment in tackling the security situation in the country.
Gbajabiamila, who said that he had a few meetings with Attahiru in search of solutions to the challenges, noted that the late Army Chief came across as a core professional officer.
He said that the Nigerian military, especially the Nigeria Army, had lost a dedicated and committed senior officer, whose services to fatherland would be sorely missed.
The speaker sent his condolences to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian military, and the Attahiru family over the loss.
He prayed for the repose of the souls of Attahiru and the 10 other officers, who lost their lives in crash. (NAN)