President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has appointed Major-General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff, military spokesperson, Brig-Gen, Onyema Nwachukwu has said.
Prior to his appointment, Major-General Yahaya was the General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Nigerian Army and the incumbent Theatre Commander of the Counterterrorism, Counter-Insurgency military outfit in the North East code named Operation HADIN KAI, the statement said.
His appointment comes days after the immediate past army chief, Lieutenant-General Ibrahim Attahiru died in a Kaduna air-crash along with 10 other military officials.
The new Chief of Army Staff was born on 5 January 1966 in Sifawa, Bodinga Local Government Area of Sokoto state.
Maj Gen Yahaya who is a member of the 37 Regular Course of the prestigious Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), started his cadet training on 27 September 1985 and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps on 22 September 1990.
Maj Gen Yahaya has held several appointments including Staff, Instructional and Command.
Notable among the appointments held by the new COAS are Garrison Commander Headquarters Guards Brigade, Directing Staff at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Deputy Director Army Headquarters Department of Military Secretary, Deputy Director Army Research and Development and the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Joint Task Force Operation Pulo Shield.
He also served as the Principal General Staff Officer (PGSO) to the Honourable Minister of Defence, the Commander, Headquarters 4 Brigade and 29 Task Force Brigade (Operation Zaman Lafiya). He was also Director Manpower at the Army Headquarters, Military Secretary, Army Headquarters.
The new COAS is a holder of several honours and awards, some of which include, Forces Service Star, Meritorious Service Star, Distinguished Service Star, Grand Service Star, Passed staff course (Dagger), National Defence Course (Chile), Economic Community of West Africa State Monitoring Group Medal, Command Medal, Field Command Medal, General Operations Medal, Silver Jubilee Medal and Golden Jubilee Medal. He is happily married and blessed with children.
