The head of the late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja’s family, Pa Tajudeen Lagbaja, has expressed regret obtaining Nigerian Defence Academic (NDA) form for the deceased.

Pa Tajudeen, the younger brother of the late COAS’s father, stated that he would not have bought the form had he known it would lead to his death.

Some family members also alleged that Lt. General Lagbaja may have been killed through diabolical means due to a land dispute in his hometown.

According to TheNation, In 2023 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.

Pa Tajudeen told TheNation that he initially obtained the NDA form for the late Lieutenant General.

“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,” the family head said.

President Bola Tinubu has reappointed  Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha as the Director-General of the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA).

Prof. Abdullahi is expected to serve another second term of five years as the head of the research agency.

His appointment was announced in a press statement issued by the Press Secretary to the NBRDA Director-General, Toyin Omozuwa, in Abuja on Saturday.

According to the statement, Mustapha’s reappointment was conveyed in a letter signed by the Secretary to the

Government, George Akume.

“Mustapha’s second term is effective from 31st October 2024 and is in line with the provisions of Sections 10 (1) and (3) of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (Establishment) Act, 2022,” the statement said.

Omozuwa stated that industry experts regard the reappointment as an expression of Tinubu’s confidence in Mustapha’s capability to drive innovation towards achieving food security.

He added that the reappointment would allow the Director-General to complete his work in enhancing pharmaceutical production, as well as positioning Nigeria at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Mustapha is a Professor of Bioinorganic Chemistry and hails from Dambatta Local Government Area of Kano State.

The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) is an agency established in 2001 under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, that implements policies, explores resources, conducts research, promotes, coordinates and develops biotechnology in Nigeria.

The NABDA also controls and supervises the introduction of genetically modified organisms into Nigeria.