Army Chief Says Fifth Columnist In Armed Forces

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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