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NIGERIA-CRIME-MILITARY-KILLING-POLITICS
Gunmen kill Nigeria’s ex-defence chief: official
LAGOS, Dec 19, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Gunmen have shot dead a former defence
chief on a main road outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja, the air force said, in
an attack that underscores worsening security in the vast west African
nation.
“It is with a heavy heart that I regretfully announce the unfortunate
demise of former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu
Badeh”, air force spokesman Ibikunle Daramola said in a statement late
Tuesday.
Badeh, 61, died Tuesday “from gunshot wounds sustained when his vehicle
was attacked while returning from his farm along Abuja-Keffi road”.
The air force did not say if any arrests had been or suggest motives
behind the killing.
Badeh who served as Nigeria’s defence chief under former president
Goodluck Jonathan, retired in 2015.
He has been on trial since his retirement over allegations of corruption
while in office.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is battling a myriad of security
problems, from Boko Haram jihadist insurgency in the northeast to farmer-
herder conflict in the centre and kidnappings for ransom ans armed robberies
in the south.
President Muhammadu Buhari who came to power in 2015 and is seeking a
second term in February elections, has come under fire for not doing enough
to address the security challenges.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1406 hrs