Former Chief of Defence Staff has revealed that the effectiveness of the fight against Boko Haram was greatly hampered by lack of proper equipments.
Former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh
The former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh has revealed that when he was Chief of Defence, the military lacked the right equipment to fight the Boko Haram insurgency.
Alex Badeh further stated that the Boko Haram terrorist had informants within the military who leaked information on operations to them leading to many soldiers being ambushed and killed.
The former military chief made the comments on Thursday, July 30, 2015, while handing over to successor, Major-General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin in Abuja.
Badeh said:
“The task of coordinating the military and other security agencies in the fight against the insurgents is perhaps the most complex and challenging assignment I have had in my over 38 years in service.”
“For the first time, I was head of a military that lacked the relevant equipment and motivation to fight an enemy that was invisible and embedded with the local populace.”
“Furthermore, the activities of fifth columnists in the military and other security agencies who leaked operational plans and other sensitive military information to the terrorist, combined to make the fight against the insurgents particularly difficult.”
“The activities of these unpatriotic members of the military not only blunted the effectiveness of the fight, but also led to the needless deaths of numerous officers and men who unwittingly fell into ambushes prepared by terrorists who had advance warnings of the approach of such troops.”
Badeh, now a retired Air Chief Marshal, and other service chiefs, were sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 13.