Immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, who alongside other service chiefs, was sacked by Buhari on July 13, said while he was in office, he headed a military that lacked equipment. He said this during his handing over ceremony to the new chief of Defence staff, Major-General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin in Abuja;
"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. The decision by certain countries to deny us weapons to prosecute the war also added to the challenges we faced. Despite these challenges, I am glad to note that a lot was achieved during our time in the fight against terror. The achievements recorded are largely due to the commitment, patriotism and fighting spirit of our men and women in uniform who saw the fight against terror as a task that must be accomplished no matter the odds and inspite of the campaign of calumny against the military by a section of the media with their foreign collaborators.”he said
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