Born on 10 August 1966 in Doka, Kaduna State, the new Army Chief, General Ibrahim Attahiru was a graduate of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Armed Forces Command and Staff College and Nigerian Army School of Infantry,
He has held several appointments on the staff, instructional and in command in the course of his military career. He was UN Military Observer in Sierra Leone and Company Commander during ECOMOG Operations in Liberia.
He was also Commanding Officer 146 Battalion in the Bakassi Peninsula, Commander 13 Brigade Operation PULO SHIELD and General Officer Commanding 82 Division Nigerian Army and Theatre Commander Operation LAFIA DOLE.
Other positions he held included Deputy Director Military Secretary, Director Army Public Relations, Director Staff Duties and Deputy Chief of Policy and Plans at the Army Headquarters.
Attahiru was equally the Chief of Defence Transformation and Innovation and Chief of Defence Logistics at the Defence Headquarters Abuja.
He was also an Instructor at the Depot Nigerian Army, Nigerian Defence Academy, the Nigerian Army School of Infantry and Chief Instructor at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji-Nigeria.
General Attahiru has been exposed to leadership and professional development programmes at globally renowned institutions. He was at the National Defence College Kenya for the National Defence Management and Security Studies Course and at the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Special Forces Academy Shijiazhuang-Hubei Province, China for the Basic and Advanced Special/Operations Commando Forces Courses.
He was also at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University USA; Graduate School of Media and Communication, Agha Khan University Kenya; Bournemouth University Disaster Management Center and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
He holds a Masters degree in Strategic Management and Policy Studies, the Nigerian Defence Academy; Masters of Science in Human Resources Management and Development, Salford University and Graduate Diploma in International Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya.