President Muhammadu Buhari said the demise of ex-Chadian President Idriss Deby “will surely create a big vacuum in the efforts to jointly confront the Boko Haram terrorists and the Islamic State West Africa Province.”
The President made the comment in a statement signed by his spokesman Garba Shehu.
Deby died of injuries while fighting rebels in the north of the Sahel country, according to the Chadian army earlier on Tuesday.
The shocking announcement came only the day after the 68-year-old was proclaimed the winner of a presidential election that had given him a sixth term in office.
The Chadian army said Deby had been commanding his army at the weekend as it battled against rebels who had launched a major incursion into the north of the country on election day.
