Warrant Officer Lawal Mato, one of the bodyguards of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s (retd.), died on Tuesday after struggling with diabetes for three years.
Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said Mato had been working with him for many years before he won the 2015 election.
The President described the officer as a “very thorough, trustworthy and dependable soldier who carried out his duty with diligence and focus”.
The statement added, “Mato was part of a team that former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua restored to President Buhari as personal security and he had been off full duty for three years, treating diabetes.”
Buhari prayed that God would ease Mato’s passage to paradise and grant his family, government and people of Jigawa State the fortitude to bear the loss.