The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Alex Badeh, has refuted claims that he sent a helicopter to his hometown, Vintim, in Adamawa State to evacuate members of his family hours before the fall of the town to Boko Haram insurgents.
A statement posted on on the blog of Nigerian Defence Headquarters (http://defenceinfo.mil.ng/) noted that the allegation was mischievous and that the damage done by the fabrications contained in the article “The Helicopters that evacuated CDS Badeh’s family from Mubi: A lesson for All Nigerians,” written by a certain Elvis Iyorngurum and posted in an online news outlet, NewsRescue.com on November 6 was not only personal, but has grave national security implications.
“The said article, which contained strings of deliberate falsehood and spurious allegations, claimed that a few hours before the attack on Mubi by the terrorists, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal A.S. Badeh flew in helicopters and evacuated his family from the town and abandoned everyone else to their fate.
“While the DHQ remains at a loss as to the motive for these unconscionable fabrications, it is pertinent to quickly repudiate the false claim and to state clearly that at no time did the CDS send any helicopter to evacuate any of his family members before, during or after the attack on his hometown.
“Contrary to the claims by the author, the helicopter which flew to Mubi was on an operational mission to reinforce the ground troops in preparation of efforts to repel the attack. The helicopter did not convey any civilian or relation of the CDS as disdainfully insinuated in the article.
“Considering the fact that the falsehood packaged against Air Chief Marshal Badeh by Elvis has not only been mischievously and widely circulated, it has been further made viral on the social media, it can no longer be dismissed as one of those careless efforts in the campaign to tarnish the name and integrity of this senior officer and the Armed Forces, who are doing their best to address the security situation in the country. “