A former National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Abdullahi Mohammed (Rtd.), has died at the age of 86.
Sources informed Daily Trust that Mohammed, who served as the former Chief of Staff to both Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, “died at about 1:00am Wednesday morning.”
The death of the retired General, who was popularly known as Atoto, was described by family members, allies, and military officers familiar with his background as a “huge loss to Ilorin, the nation and the Nigerian Armed Forces.”
Read Also: Wike Backs Trump Amid US President’s Threat Of Military Action In Nigeria
Burial arrangements for the senior military officer “will be announced later in the day in line with Islamic rites,” according to family sources.
A relative confirmed his passage in a message: “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. We lost Gen. Abdullah Muhammad Adangba (Atoto) around 1 a.m. today (Wednesday). May Allah forgive his shortcomings, console us and his family, and grant him Aljannah. Ameen ya Rabb.”
Born in Ilorin, Kwara State, in 1939, Mohammed attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in the United Kingdom, and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1958.
His long career included serving as Director of Military Intelligence and playing a “notable role in the 1975 coup” that successfully ousted General Yakubu Gowon and brought Murtala Mohammed to power.
Following the coup, he was appointed Governor of Benue-Plateau State from July 1975 to March 1976.
Under General Olusegun Obasanjo’s military administration, he was appointed Director-General of the National Security Organisation (NSO), the forerunner of the present Department of State Services (DSS), a post he held until his retirement from the army in 1979.
After retiring, he founded a private business, Atoto Press Limited in Ilorin, before being “recalled to public service” in 1998 as National Security Adviser by then-Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
He held this role until May 1999. With the return to civilian rule, he was appointed Chief of Staff to President Olusegun Obasanjo, a position he retained under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua until his resignation in June 2008.
Throughout his career, he was regarded as a “disciplined officer, a trusted aide, and a silent power broker in Nigeria’s political and security landscape.”
Join Informant Online WhatsApp Channel With Link Below: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaihFajBadmT29ufud2
