Saraki Mourns Late General Mohammed, Former Chief of Staff

A former Senate leader has expressed deep sorrow over the passing of a retired army general who once served as top aide to two past Nigerian presidents.

Major General Abdullahi Mohammed, aged 86, died on Wednesday. Born in 1939 in Ilorin, Kwara State, he trained at Britain’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and joined the Nigerian Army in 1958. He climbed the ranks to head military intelligence and played a key part in the 1975 takeover that ousted General Yakubu Gowon. From July 1975 to March 1976, he led Benue-Plateau State as governor. Under President Olusegun Obasanjo, he ran the National Security Organisation until 1979. After leaving the forces, he managed a printing firm in Ilorin. In 1998, leaders brought him back as National Security Adviser to General Abdulsalami Abubakar until the shift to civilian rule in 1999.

Dr Abubakar Saraki, ex-Senate President, shared his grief through a statement from his office in Abuja. He hailed the general as a dedicated servant who gave freely to the country as a soldier, manager, spy chief, and true lover of Nigeria. Saraki noted that the man’s know-how would have helped greatly today amid the nation’s safety woes. He offered comfort to all Nigerians, folks in Kwara State, and the Ilorin community over losing this fine figure. May God place him in the highest heaven and give his loved ones strength to cope, Saraki prayed.