The immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.), has said that the Army he headed was one that was ill-equipped and poorly motivated to battle the Boko Haram insurgency.
The former Chief of Defence Staff made the statement while delivering a valedictory speech at a pulling out parade organised in his honour at the Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja, on Thursday.
He described the period he was head of the military as the most challenging in his 38 years of service, accusing the local and foreign media of portraying Nigerian military in a bad light.
Badeh also blamed the fifth columnists in the military for frustrating efforts to combat the Boko Haram terrorists by leaking intelligence reports to the enemies.
According to him, some members of the political class did not also help matters as they exploited serious national security issues to gain political mileage.
Reflecting on his time in the military, Badeh said, “Like the saying goes, “whatever has a beginning must surely have an end”.
“My journey in the Service of my fatherland as a member of the Armed Forces of Nigeria which began on the 3rd of January 1977 in the Nigerian Defence Academy has finally come to an end. Accordingly as I bow out today, I look forward to a deserved and happy retirement.
“Notwithstanding the modest successes we recorded in the fight against terror, I must say that the task of co-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.
“Added to this, was the exploitation of a …Read More
Source:: New Mail
