Buhari speaks with widows of Attahiru, others

President Muhammadu Buhari has touched base with widows of military officers who perished in a plane that crashed in Kaduna on Friday.

They were buried on Saturday at the Military Cemetry along Airport Road in Abuja.

President Buhari was represented on the occasion by the Minister of Defence, General Bashir Magashi (retd).

But on the heels of widespread criticisms by Nigerians that Buhari did not attend the occasion as well as many top functionaries of government, Buhari, on Sunday, according to a statement from his office, described Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru, the late Chief Army Staff as an outstanding soldier and an institution builder, who fought valiantly for Nigeria until he breathed his last.

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He was said to have said this in a telephone conversation Sunday evening with Mrs Fati Ibrahim Attahiru, the wife of the late COAS and the spouses of the other deceased officers.

He conveyed the message through Fati Attahiru to the other widows.

Buhari hailed the sacrifices of the military men who lost their lives and the Armed Forces in general, saying that Nigerians would continue to appreciate and support the fearlessness with which “our courageous soldiers are confronting the threats facing the nation.”

He assured the grieving spouses that the nation would never forget the supreme sacrifice of their spouses, urging them to take solace in the surge of extraordinary feelings of emotions across regions, religions and tribes all over the country in appreciation of their sacrifices.

The President, who had earlier given directives to the Defence headquarters and the Ministry of Defence to do everything a government can do to provide comfort and ease the hardships of the families of the deceased, prayed to Almighty God to repose their souls and grant their families the fortitude to bear the losses.

Mrs Attahiru, on behalf of the rest of the families thanked the President for the love and care he had shown to them.