A former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, has been killed by unknown gunmen.

He was said to have been ambushed by gunmen at Gitata village, along the Keffi-Badeh Road on Tuesday..

Confirming the incident on Twitter, the Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore, Ibikunle Daramola, said, “On behalf of officers, airmen and airwomen of the Nigerian Air Force, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar, commiserates with the family of the late former Chief of Defence Staff over this irreparable loss.

“We pray that the almighty God grants his soul eternal rest.”

The military has since recovered his body.

The late officer, who was 61, was commissioned into the Nigerian Air Force in 1979.

According to Wikipedia, Badeh was born in Vimtim, Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

He attended Vimtim Primary School. Vimtim and went on to obtain his school certificate from Villanova Secondary School in 1976 before proceeding to the Nigerian Defence Academy

Badeh was admitted into the Nigerian Defence Academy as a member of the 21 Regular Course on 3 January 1977, and was commissioned Pilot Officer on 3 July 1979.

He commenced his flying career at the 301 Flying Training School on the Bulldog Primary Trainer aircraft in 1979. Between 1981 and 1982 he attended the Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base in the United States Air Force. He was at the 301 Flying Training School as a squadron pilot and later became an instructor pilot on the Bull Dog and DO-228 aircraft.

He attended the junior staff course at Armed Forces Command and Staff College in 1988. Between 1995 and 1996 he attended the senior staff course at same institution. In 2005 he was at the National War College Nigeria as a member of Course 14 and graduated in August 2006. The Air Marshal had an M.Sc. degree in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan.

Air Marshal Badeh was promoted Air Vice Marshal on 3 January 2008. Between 2008 and 2009, he was a Directing Staff at the National Defence College, Abuja, Nigeria and subsequently became the Director, National Military Strategy at the same college.

He was appointed Chief of Air Staff by President Goodluck Jonathan in October 2012 and was appointed Chief of Defence Staff in April 2014.

Badeh was a retired four star flag officer of the Nigerian Air Force who served as the 18th Chief of Air Staff (Oct 4, 2012- January 16,2014) and the 15th Chief of Defence Staff of the armed forces of Nigeria (January 16, 2014 – July 13,2015)

In February 2016, Badeh was accused of financial misappropriation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly diverting billions of naira meant for weapons. He denied involvement in any misconduct until his death.