• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • Mohammed Idris Malagi, Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation

      FG Reaffirms Non-Interference in ICPC, EFCC Operations

      ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • NUPENG

      NUPENG Suspends Strike After Truce With FG, Labour, Oil Stakeholders

      Customs, Defence Bureau Unveil Airboat for Smuggling War

      Customs Begins Live Operations of Automated Excise Register System

      Still on the “National Single Window” Project By Abdulsalam Mahmud

      Minister of Finance Wale Edun and the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adeniyi decorating OP Olaniyan

      Customs Generates N3.7trn in H1 2025 as FG Targets Enhanced Private…

  • National
    • Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

      Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri…

      NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity

      Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

      FG to Schools: Get Certified Teachers or Lose WAEC Accreditation

      Troops Eliminate Terrorist, Rescue Kidnap Victims in Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna

    • Government
      • Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

        FG to Schools: Get Certified Teachers or Lose WAEC Accreditation

        ECOWAS debt: Court Remands Ecobank Legal Head over Perjury, defamation of…

        Femi Fani-Kayode FFK

        Fani-Kayode Denies Interest in NFA Chairmanship

        Food Items

        Crash Food Prices – Tinubu Orders FEC Committee

  • Security
    • Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

      Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri…

      Nigerian Troops Intercept Ransom Money, Recover 160 Rustled Cattle

      Police Nab ‘Obi of Lagos,’ Foil ₦1.5 Billion New Palace Fraud

      Military Troops in Action

      Army Rescue 17 Kidnap Victims in Kogi State

      His Royal Highness, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman, Kwara State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari,

      Emir of Ilorin, CP Lead Special Prayers Against Insecurity in Kwara

  • Features
    • Officers of NSCDC Mining Marshals

      Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri…

      Omoyele Sowore, Bayo Ononuga and Adeola Ajayi

      Sowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS Overreach

      Renewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id

      Traffic officials tolling the vehicle at the scene in Abuja

      SPECIAL REPORT: Extortion, Blood and Impunity Behind Abuja’s Agbero Menace

      MUST READ: Why Everyone Should Use AI for Writing, With Pride…

  • State
    • Military Troops in Action

      Army Rescue 17 Kidnap Victims in Kogi State

      His Royal Highness, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman, Kwara State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari,

      Emir of Ilorin, CP Lead Special Prayers Against Insecurity in Kwara

      Troops Eliminate Terrorist, Rescue Kidnap Victims in Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna

      ECOWAS debt: Court Remands Ecobank Legal Head over Perjury, defamation of…

      Troops of Nigerian Army after successfully foiling an ambush by Boko Haram/ISWAP Terrorists

      Military Kills 6 Terrorists, Lose 3 Soldiers in Zamfara Ambush

  • Event
    • NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity

      Baze University Management visits TETFUND, Showcases Tech-Driven Growth, National Impact

      PHOTOS: BUK Alumni Association Launches Digital Hub to Unite Global Graduates,…

      Founder Image Merchant Promotion Ltd, Yushau Shuaib, Nigeria Customs CG, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the IPRA representative during the 2024 GWA awards in Belgrade, Serbia

      Again, ​IPRA Shortlists Nigeria Customs, IMPR for Golden World Awards, Celebrates…

      BUKAA Announces 2025 AGM at BUK New Campus: Join In-Person or…

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home General An Encounter with Gen Attahiru, Spy Chief a Week Before their Death
  • General

An Encounter with Gen Attahiru, Spy Chief a Week Before their Death

By
Yushau A. Shuaib
-
May 28, 2021
Generals Attahiru Kuliya
Generals Attahiru Kuliya

An Encounter with Gen Attahiru, Spy Chief a Week Before their Death
By Yushau A. Shuaib

“Mallam Yushau, can you see me at Niger Barrack today?” – General Attahiru

I received the above phone message on Sallah Day, Thursday May 13, 2021, from the late General Ibrahim Attahiru, the former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff (COAS) just a week before his death alongside other military officers in a plane crash in Kaduna.

The nation was thrown into mourning over his death even as his immediate past predecessor and Ambassador-Designate, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), noted that Attahiru was on the verge of making the nation proud in the national counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism efforts when the tragedy occurred.

Gov Babagana Zulum of Borno State also admitted that the late COAS was evidently committed to the fight against Boko Haram and determined to contribute significantly to ending the insurgency.

Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari praised Attahiru for his gallantry in the war against insurgency and described him as a military chief who led from the front. Equally, former President Goodluck Jonathan highly commended the late Army Chief and other officers who died in the course of service to the country as patriots who died with their boots on.

On that Sallah Day when I received his invitation, I reached out to the Army spokesperson, Brigadier-General Mohammed Yerima and we both drove to General Attahiru’s residence. There, we were received by his then ADC, the now late Major Lawal Hayat, who ushered us into the lobby, since the COAS was then with the Chief of Intelligence, now late Brig-Gen Abdulrahman Kuliya, and his Chief of Staff, also now late Brig-Gen Mohammed Abdulkadir.

While waiting in the lobby, I recalled my first encounter with Attahiru about eight years ago, precisely on November 29, 2013, when the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) had hosted security spokespersons and top editors of media houses to an interactive forum intended to create and sustain a working relationship between the media and the security sector, towards promoting the national interest.

Attahiru was then the Army spokesperson and Director of Army Public Relations. It was the outcome of that meeting that gave birth to the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA). During the meeting, he was articulate and demonstrated eloquence, as he emphasised the desirability of information-driven by the media, intelligence gathering inspired by communities, and counterterrorism championed by the military and other security services.

It was after that encounter that we sustained a brotherly relationship and I gradually came into a greater awareness of Attahiru, not only as a very keen professional who understood his brief at each point and always delivered on this to the best of his ability, but equally as a highly humane person with a strong sense of empathy, support and solidarity.

As fate would have it, he had recorded successes in the various offices he held, even if these were just brief stints. He accomplished assigned tasks when he was a Military Commander in the Bakassi Peninsula and the Niger Delta region before becoming General Officer Commanding, 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu.

While he was Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole in North-Eastern Nigeria for just six months in 2018, he brought relative stability to the region, with the elimination of several Boko Haram commanders and the surrender of their combatants.

Similarly, his outstanding records are glaring when he was Deputy Chief of Policy and Plans at the Army Headquarters, and later as the Chief of Defence Transformation and Innovation, and the Chief of Defence Logistics at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.

Read Also:

  • NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity
  • Sowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS Overreach
  • Nigerian Troops Intercept Ransom Money, Recover 160 Rustled Cattle

Apart from acquiring higher levels of education at the Salford, Bournemouth, Nairobi, China and Geneva, Attahiru had served as an Instructor at the Depot Nigerian Army, Nigerian Defence Academy and the Nigerian Army School of Infantry. He later became Chief Instructor at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Nigeria.

On his appointment as Chief of Army Staff, the late military tactician had exhibited a very national outlook in the deployment of officers, with his approach also anchored on the principles of seniority, professionalism, and competence. For strategic reasons, he had deployed heroic field commanders of Southern origin for operations in the North of Nigeria, and similarly, gallant officers from the North were assigned to operations in the South. It was, therefore, not surprising when he retained some of his course mates in the service and assigned one of the most senior Army officers, General Ben Ahonatu from Anambra State as the Chief of Policy and Plan (COPP) at the Army Headquarters.

Apart from his nationalistic deployment of officers, he undertook several risky missions to the theatres of operation nationwide to motivate the troops and give assurance to host communities. He occasionally gave deadlines for military operations. For instance, on February 22, 2021, while on the frontline in Dikwa, he ordered the troops of the then Operation Lafiya Dole under the command of General Faruq Yahaya to clear and recover “Marte, Chikungu, Wulgo, Kirenowa and Kita in Borno State from terrorists within 48 hours.” The nation was delighted when the military met the deadline by eliminating scores of terrorists and rescuing many victims. He had also been very resolute and passionate on the indivisibility of Nigeria that he was determined to tackle secessionist agitators frontally.

While it would be inappropriate to delve into the nitty-gritty of intelligence work, the late COAS’s deployment of Brigadier General Kuliya as the spy chief was widely celebrated in the security services as that decision played significant roles in disorganising terrorist camps through strategic infiltration.

Following the penetration Kuliya had engineered, violent confrontations broke out among fighters of the Boko Haram and ISWAP groups, leading to the reported death of the erstwhile Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, among others.

As I ruminated over Attahiru’s accomplishments within a short period in office, Major Hayat walked into the lobby with the information that the Army Chief was ready to receive us on that Sallah day. We then ran into and exchanged greetings and banters with Brigadiers-General Kuliya and Abdulkadir, who were on their way out of the residence.

On meeting him, General Attahiru had asked after the preparations we were making for the then forthcoming training of Army Public Relations Officers (PROs), which was scheduled for the following week, from May 19 to 22, 2021. I informed him that everything was going well, according to the coordination plan of the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) and the Department of Army Public Relations (DAPR).

Attahiru believed that a mutual relationship between military spokespersons and the media would go a long way in achieving positive results in counter-insurgency campaigns. He always advised security spokespersons to enhance their conflict-sensitive communications skills, in order to build mutual trust with the civil populace.

General Attahiru had assured us that he would be present at the Opening Ceremony of the workshop before we left him that day as he prepared to travel to the frontline to celebrate Sallah Festivity with the troops the following day.

On the first day of the workshop, he could not make it because he attended a Conference of General Officers Commanding (GOCs) in Ibadan, Oyo State. On the second day, he could not make it because he attended an Air Force programme with the Minister of Defence in Makurdi, Benue State. On the third day and closing ceremony of the PR workshop, General Attahiru could still not make it because he was attending important security engagements and preparing for another official trip the same day. After his afternoon prayers, he was flown out of Abuja to Kaduna for the newer official assignment, and the plane crashed just before their arrival at the destination.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author An Encounter with the Spymaster
[email protected]

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Abdulrahman Kuliya
  • Bokom Haram
  • COAS
  • Faruq Yahaya
  • Features
  • Ibrahim Attahiru
  • ISWAP
Previous articleNASS Team in America to Assess Progress on NAF A-29 Super Tucano Aircraft
Next articleNigerian Troops Tackle IPOB Militants at Agbochia Forest
Yushau A. Shuaib
Yushau A. Shuaib
https://prnigeria.com/

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

MUST READ: Why Everyone Should Use AI for Writing, With Pride Without Shame By Abdulsalam Mahmud

IGP Kayode Egbetokun Police Boss

IGP Has Legal Powers to Issue Tinted-Glass Permits, Police Reply NBA Amidst Legal Suit

Troops Eliminate Bandits in Benue, Foil Attack in Katsina

Suicide Awareness

FG Sets December 2025 Deadline to Decriminalise Attempted Suicide – Pate

Baze University Management visits TETFUND, Showcases Tech-Driven Growth, National Impact

Commissioner of Police FCT Ajao Saka Adewale

Police arrest 71 suspected criminals in FCT

Military Troops in Action

Troops Repel Bandit Attack in Katsina, Rescue Kidnap Victims

UniAbuja entrance gate

Yakubu Gowon University UniAbuja Promotes 104 Academic Staff to Professiorial Rank

​Operation HADIN KAI Launches Air-to-Ground Integration Capacity Building

Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd)

Marwa, A Man of Uncommon Grace at 72 By Femi Babafemi

Military Plants Trees, Donates Relief Items to Orphans in Plateau

Eid El-Maulid: Kwara Gov Urges Muslims To Embrace Unity, Shun Partisanship

Recent Posts

  • Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri Idakwo Laruba
  • NIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National Unity
  • Sowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS Overreach
  • Nigerian Troops Intercept Ransom Money, Recover 160 Rustled Cattle
  • Police Nab ‘Obi of Lagos,’ Foil ₦1.5 Billion New Palace Fraud
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Mining Marshals and the Fight for Nigeria’s Mineral Future By Zekeri Idakwo LarubaNIPR Inducts 422 New Members, Urges Commitment to National UnitySowore’s Provocation, Onanuga’s Plea and the DSS OverreachNigerian Troops Intercept Ransom Money, Recover 160 Rustled CattlePolice Nab 'Obi of Lagos,' Foil ₦1.5 Billion New Palace FraudRenewed Hope and the Broadening Public Sphere By Ahmed Balarabe Sa’idArmy Rescue 17 Kidnap Victims in Kogi StateFG to Schools: Get Certified Teachers or Lose WAEC AccreditationEmir of Ilorin, CP Lead Special Prayers Against Insecurity in KwaraTroops Eliminate Terrorist, Rescue Kidnap Victims in Sokoto, Katsina, KadunaECOWAS debt: Court Remands Ecobank Legal Head over Perjury, defamation of Judge characterFACT-CHECK: Did Governor Uba Sani describe El-Rufai as "Godsent" who assisted him with various needs, including property acquisitions and even against Peter Obi?DSS Secures 15-Year Jail Term for Ansaru Leader Over Illegal MiningSPECIAL REPORT: Extortion, Blood and Impunity Behind Abuja's Agbero MenaceMUST READ: Why Everyone Should Use AI for Writing, With Pride Without Shame By Abdulsalam Mahmud
X whatsapp