Former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Muhammed Inuwa Wushishi, is dead.

The 81-year old succumbed to death at a London hospital while battling a protracted ailment, NAN reports.

The Secretary to the Niger Government, Ahmed Matane, described the deceased as a committed officer and an elder statesman who served Nigeria passionately.

Matane in a statement by his media aide, Lawal Tanko, expressed grief and sadness over Wushishi’s death.

“The Late Gen. M.I. Wushishi was a respected officer who spent his life in the service of the state, country and humanity,“ the statement said.

Matane said Wushishi’s death was a great tragedy and a monumental loss not only to the state but to Nigeria as a whole.

“On behalf of the government and people of the state, I want to convey my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the immediate family of the former Chief of Army Staff and the entire Nigerlites on this huge loss.”

He urged the wife and other bereaved family members to “take solace in the fact that all mortals shall taste death and we must answer the call of Almighty Allah at one point in time or another“