Nigeria, May 21 -- Today, 21 May, 2026 marks exactly five years since an unprecedented tragedy in Nigeria's history shook the nation to its core. On that day in 2021, the country's 21st Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, died alongside ten other gallant officers and men in an air crash.

The incident that took Attahiru's life occurred during a trip for the passing-out-parade of a new set of recruits at the Nigerian Army Depot, Zaria, scheduled for Saturday, 22 May, 2021. The depot is the institution that trains Nigeria's army recruits, and although he didn't need to be there, Attahiru argued that his physical presence would boost the morale of those new entrants before their deployment to the different formations of th...