Society Gists

Lagbaja, the head of the late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja’s family, says he regrets sending the deceased to the Nigerian Defence Academic (NDA).

Pa Tajudeen, who is the younger brother of the late COAS’s father, said this in reaction to his nephew’s death.

He said he obtained the NDA form for Lagbaja but wouldn’t have done so had he known it would lead to his death, reported The Nation.

Recall that the 56-year-old general breathed his last in Lagos on Tuesday evening after battling an undisclosed sickness for some months.

The Presidency confirmed his death in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy.

Lagbaja’s uncle regrets his death

There have been several rumours on the nature of sickness that led to Lagbaja’s death with some suggesting that he was spiritually attacked in his office.

Some family members aligned with the sentiment but said he may have been killed through diabolical means due to a land dispute in his hometown.

As reported by The Nation, a dispute arose in Ilobu, the headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area in Osun State, when representatives of the Nigerian Army planned to establish a hospital in the community.

But for Pa Tajudeen, sending Lagbaja to the NDA sealed the deceased’s fate.

“Everyone who is born must die. We give glory to God. The year that I obtained the NDA form for him if I had known that he would die before me, I would not have done so. I regret obtaining the form for him. But it is destiny.

“The death that killed Taoreed Lagbaja ought to take me. I took him as one of my children. We are greatly bereaved, we are sad. He constructed a borehole in his father’s compound and other places in the community.

“We can never forget him, his death is so shocking to us. I have accepted fate, all the promises he made to me have hit a brick wall. He always gave us hope in the family, despite the sorrow, I give thanks to God,” the family head said.