Nigeria’s former Chief of General Staff and deputy to the late dictator, General Sani Abacha, Oladipo Diya, is dead. He was 78.
Diya died around 1:05 a.m on Sunday at a hospital in Lagos.
Donaldson Oladipo Diya was born on 3 April 1944 at Odogbolu, Ogun State, then western region, Nigeria.
He was educated at the Methodist Primary School, Lagos, the Odogbolu Grammar School.
He served as Chief of the General Staff, under the military Head of State, General Sani Abacha from 1994 until his arrest for treason in 1997.
He previously served as Chief of Defence Staff and was Military Governor of Ogun State from January 1984 to August 1985.
His death was announced in a message that went viral on social media by the late military general’s media adviser, Olawale Adekoya, and signed on behalf of the family by Oyesinmilola Diya, a lawyer and the deceased’s first son, announced the death.
The statement reads in part: “On behalf of the entire Diya family home and abroad; We announce the passing on to glory of our dear husband, father, grandfather, brother, Lt- General Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka Diya (Rtd) GCON, LLB, BL, PSC, FSS, mni.
“Our dear daddy passed onto glory in the early hours of 26th March 2023.