There are many fifth columnists in armed forces

There are many fifth columnists in armed forces
– CDS
on october 08, 2014 at 7:55pm in news
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The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex
Badeh, said on Wednesday there were “fifth
columnists’’ in the armed forces leading to
conflicting information emanating from the
military.
Badeh made the allegation in Abuja, while
reacting to some presentations at the start of a
three-day workshop on “Security/Media Relations
in Crisis Management’’.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
the retreat was organised by the Office of
National Security Adviser in conjunction with Trim
Communications Nig. Ltd.
“If your people are misleading you, what do you
do? There are too many fifth columnists.
“There was a report which says oh, we have seen
some of the Chibok girls, only eight are 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 Maj.-
Gen. Olukolade, the Director, of Defence
Information says. He was misled by one of us,’’
Badeh said.
Badeh urged journalists to be guided by national
interest while reporting the ongoing counter-
insurgency operations in the North east.
Badeh advised that although they might know
many things concerning the operations but they
should not report things that would hurt or create
panic in the people.
Asked to assess the performance of the media so
far, he said, “I would not say it has been what we
are looking for.
“Because without pointing accusing fingers, some
newspapers celebrate when anything bad happens
to this country.
“They really celebrate it, maybe because of
politics. President Jonathan cannot be doing
everything.
“When an institution has small problem, you do
not go and say the president has failed,’’ he said,
adding that journalists should endeavour to verify
their report before publishing.
“If you know how many condolence messages I
have received that my house is burnt, that my
whole village has been burnt; but no Boko Haram
has gone to my village.
“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.’’ he said.
Also, the National Security Adviser (NSA), retired
Col. Sambo Dasuki, urged the media to be
diligent in their reportage of the operations.
He said that the country was facing “significant
security challenge’’.
Represented by Prof. Soji Adelaja of the NSA
Office, he said that terrorism was new to the
nation and cautioned against reports and pictures
that could affect the image of the country.
The chairman of the occasion, retired Gen. Martin
Luther Agwai, said that there was need for the
media and security agencies to partner in
handling the current situation.

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