He spoke during a pulling out ceremony in his honour at the army Headquarters garrison, Mogadishu cantonment Abuja.
“The activities of fifth columnists in the military and other sensitive military information leaked to the terrorists, 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 have advance warnings of the approach of such troops,” he said.
He said he took charge of the leadership of armed forces that was underfunded and ill-equipped for counter terrorism operations.
He stated that over the years, the military was neglected and under-equipped to ensure survival of certain regimes, while other regimes, based on advice from some foreign nations, deliberately reduced the size of the military and underfunded it.
Badeh stated that unfortunately, past leaders accepted such recommendations without appreciating the peculiarities as a third world military, which did not have the technological advantage that could serve as force multipliers and compensate for reduced strength. He said when faced with the crises in the North-east, the military was over-stretched, and had to embark on emergency recruitments and training which were not adequate to prepare troops for the kind of situation the country found itself.
“I must say that the task of coordinating the military and other security agencies in the fight against insurgents is perhaps the most complex and challenging assignment I have had in 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 the local populace,” he said.
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