Young had accepted an appointment to Liberia as a military attaché. The posting carried with it the responsibility of reporting on military developments throughout much of West Africa, and his visit to Nigeria was part of these duties. According to Brian Shellum, the visit was related to an assignment to update a War Department monograph, "Nigeria: Political Factor", part of a series of confidential "geographic handbooks on the military and political affairs of the countries of the world."

Young died of a kidney infection which brought on heart failure, having accepted the Liberia posting against the advice of friends including W.E.B. Du Bois, who had cautioned him against the significant danger to health that the assignment posed. At the request of his wife, his body was eventually exhumed and returned to the US for interral at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sources

David P. Kilroy, For Race and Country: The Life and Career of Colonel Charles Young (2003)

Micki McElyaa, The Politics of Mourning (2016)

Brian G. Shellum, Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment: The Military Career of Charles Young (2010)