Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen. Victor Malu, has died at the age of 70
Malu died early Monday morning at a hospital in Cairo, Egypt.
His cousin, Bem Adoor, said he travelled to the North Africa country two weeks ago for medical check-up.
Malu served as army chief from May 1999 to April 2001 under President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Before then, he was commander of the Economic Community of West Africa Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) Peace Keeping Force to Sierra Leone and Liberia between August 1996 and January 1998.
Malu was born on January 15, 1947 in his home town of Katsina-Ala in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State.
He enrolled into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in 1967 as part of the 3rd Regular Course and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant of the Nigerian Army upon graduation in 1970.
His discontent with the Obasanjo administration got worse in October 2001 after 19 soldiers were killed during protests by Tiv people in Zaki Biam, in Katsina-Ala.
In retaliation, the army allegedly massacred 100 people, with Malu claiming armed men burst into his own home and killed four of his household before burning down neighbouring houses.
In July 2005 Malu complained that Obasanjo was persecuting him. He said the State Security Services had seized his passport on the basis that he had been “going to Paris frequently and was holding meetings with people who do not mean well for the country.”
He also said that his military service records had been declared missing and he was not getting fair treatment over his pension.
In January 2006, he caused controversy when he spoke at a meeting of the Arewa Consultative Forum in Kaduna, saying he regretted not having overthrown Obasanjo’s government while he was COAS.
In September 2008 Malu, a diabetic, went into a coma and was rushed to Lagos University Teaching Hospital where he was placed on life support in the intensive care unit.
He was later transferred to a hospital in London, and after treatment for stroke was discharged from hospital to his Central London home in April 2009.
