Adebayo Adenrele
The Family of late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja has expressed regret over his enrolment into the Nigerian Army.
Speaking with journalists, Pa Tajudeen Lagbaja said he regretted obtaining Nigerian Defence Academic(NDA) form for the deceased, adding that he would have retracted his action had he knew his life would be cut short.
Other family members who are still dazed by their illustrious son’s death alleged that he was killed diabolically because of a land dispute in his hometown, Ilobu community,
It will be recalled that there was a dispute in Ilobu, headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State in 2023, when delegates of the Nigerian Army planned to cite a hospital in the community.
Pa Tajudeen Lagbaja(younger brother of the late COAS’s father), disclosed that he was the one who obtained the NDA form for the late Lieutenant General.
He said, “Everyone who is born must die. We give glory to God. The year that I obtained 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 the 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.”