New service chiefs unveiled, Buratai heads army
President
Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Service Chiefs and
National Security Adviser, NSA, to replace former Service Chiefs who
were sacked earlier today.
Acccording to a statement by Femi
Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), the
following are the newly appointed Service Chiefs: Major-General Abayomi
Gabriel Olonishakin – Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General T.Y. Buratai
– Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas – Chief of Naval
Staff and Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar – Chief of Air Staff.
Maj. General Yusuf Tukur Buratai: new army chief
Others
appointed today are: Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan – Chief of
Defence Intelligence and Major-General Babagana Monguno (retd.) –
National Security Adviser.
The new Chief of Defence Staff,
Maj.-Gen. Olonishakin (N/6901) hails from Ekiti State. Until his
appointment as Chief of Defence Staff today, he was the Head of the
Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command in Minna, Niger State.
The
new Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Buratai hails from Borno State.
Until his new appointment today, he was the Commander of the
Multinational Joint Task Force which has its headquarters in Ndjamena.
Maj-Gen.
Buratai has previously served as Commander of the Nigerian Army’s 2nd
Brigade in Port Harcourt and Commander of the Nigerian Army School of
Infantry in Jaji, Kaduna State.
The new Chief of Naval Staff, Rear
Admiral Ibas (NN/0746) hails from Cross River State. He enlisted into
the Nigerian Defence Academy as a member of the 26th Regular Course in
1979 and was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in 1983.
His
previous appointments include: Naval Provost Marshal, Chief Staff
Officer, Naval Training Command, Chief of Administration, Naval
Headquarters, Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command and Chief of
Logistics, Naval Headquarters.
Until his appointment as Chief of Naval Staff, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Navy Holdings Limited.
The new Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar (NAF/1433) hails from Bauchi State.
His
previous appointments include: Chief of Standards and Evaluation, NAF
Headquarters; Chief of Defence Communications and Air Officer
Commanding, NAF Training Command.
Until his new appointment today as Chief of Air Staff, he was the Chief of Administration, NAF Headquarters.
The new Service Chiefs will hold their appointments in an acting capacity until confirmed by the Senate.
President
Buhari thanked the outgoing Service Chiefs and National Security
Adviser for their services to the nation and wishes them well in their
future endeavours.
Buhari sacked his army, navy, air force and
defence chiefs earlier Monday, a widely anticipated move as the former
general has made crushing Islamist militant group Boko Haram his top
priority.
Since his inauguration in May, Buhari has moved
Nigeria’s defence command centre to Maiduguri, the birthplace of the
jihadi sect, and is setting up the headquarters for a multi-national
joint taskforce in Chad’s capital N’Djamena.
In June, Amnesty
International accused Nigeria’s military of systemic human rights abuses
and the deaths of 8,000 prisoners and called for an investigation into
many top military officials including the army and air force chiefs.
Former
President Goodluck Jonathan was heavily criticised for his inability to
deal with the six-year insurgency in the northeast of Africa’s biggest
oil producer which has killed thousands and displaced 1.5 million
people.
Army morale hit an all time low under Jonathan and it was
not until the start of 2015 that the militants were finally pushed out
of most areas with the help of foreign mercenaries, troops from
neighbouring countries and new equipment.
But Nigerians saw Jonathan’s victories as too little to late.
The
outgoing officials are: Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex
Badeh; the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Kenneth Minimah; the Chief
of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin and the Chief of Air Staff,
Air Vice Marshall Adesola Amosu
