There Are Fifth Columnists In Armed Forces, Says Defence Chief

Air Marshal Alex S. Badeh, Nigeria's chief of defence staff (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)

The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, has alerted the nation to the presence of fifth columnists in the Armed Forces, The Nation reports.

Air Chief Marshal Badeh said the fifth columnists caused the conflicting information emanating from the Armed Forces in recent times.

The Defence chief spoke in Abuja yesterday at the opening of a three-day workshop on Security/Media Relations in Crisis Management.

Air Marshal Badeh said: “If your people are misleading you, what do you do? There are too many fifth columnists in our midst.

“There was a report, which says ‘oh, we have seen some of the Chibok girls; only eight were missing. It was a very senior officer that gave that information from Chibok area.

“We are dealing with that situation. That was when people started saying ‘watch what Major-Gen. Chris Olukolade, the Director of Defence Information, says’. He was misled by one of us.”

 He urged journalists to be guided by the national interest in the reportage of the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the Northeastern part of the country.

He advised them to refrain from reporting on sensitive issues concerning the operations, particularly issues that could cause panic among the populace.

Air Marshal Badeh accused a section of the media of sensationalism based on what he described as political considerations and urged the media to verify their report before publication.

“If you know how many condolence messages I have received that my house was burnt, that my whole village had been burnt down by Boko Haram

“I do not know whether it is me they want to bring down or the president that they want to bring down, that is the media for you.”

Also speaking at the event, the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), urged the media to be diligent in their reportage of the operations, saying that the country was facing significant security challenges.

He said terrorism was new to the nation and cautioned against reports and photographs that could negatively affect Nigeria’s image.

The chairman of the occasion, Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, said there was need for the media and security agencies to partner in handling the security situation.