The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday said the military troops are mission-focused and motivated to win the war against terrorism in the country.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, disclosed this while briefing Defence Correspondents in Abuja on the ongoing military operations across various theatres of operations as of November 21, 2024.
According to General Buba, “The aim of the armed forces in the ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency war remains to find and destroy the terrorist and their cohorts whenever they may be hiding in our country.
“In achieving this aim, we recognise the need to continue to act and respond forcefully against terrorists. Accordingly, we are collecting intelligence, hunting them and striking locations in which they are confirmed to be hibernating. For instance, troops killed a notorious terrorist commander named Munzur Ya Audu in the North-East through well-executed operations.”
He said, serious efforts have been made to dismantle the military capabilities as well as destroy the terror networks of these groups. Troops are also actively targeting terrorist logistics bases and other structures that have affiliations with terror groups.
Explaining successes recorded during the week under review, General Buba said “Troops neutralised 115 and arrested 238 persons. Troops also arrested 51 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 138 kidnapped hostages.
“In the South-South, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Nine Hundred and Twenty-One Million Eight Hundred and Forty-Seven Thousand One Hundred and Forty-Six Naira (N921,847,146.00) only.
“Troops recovered 145 assorted weapons and 3,825 assorted ammunitions. The breakdown is as follows: one GPMG, 2 PKT guns, 68 AK47 rifles, 2 AK56 rifles, 24 fabricated rifles, 28 dane guns, one fabricated revolver pistol, 6 locally made pistols, one pistol, 8 pump action guns, one hand grenade, 4 fabricated hand grenades, one RPG bomb and 3 explosives.
“Others are 2,093 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 246 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 317 rounds of 7.62mm GPMG/PKM ammo, 129 live cartridges, 28 shotgun cartridges, 500 empty cases of MG ammo, 147 empty cases of 7.62mm ammo, 3 empty cases of cartridges, 54 magazines, 3 baofeng radios, 3 handheld radios, one bandolier, 12 vehicles, 24 motorcycles, 11 bicycles, 51 mobile phones and the sum of N7,245,500.00 only amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 78 crude oil cooking ovens, 21 dugout pits, 56 boats, 56 drums, 26 storage tanks and 56 illegal refining sites. Other items recovered include 2 speedboats, one barge, 2 tricycles, one pumping machine, 2 walkie-talkies, 2 outboard engines, 9 mobile phones and 12 vehicles among others. Troops recovered 872,070 litres of stolen crude oil and 67,985 litres of illegally refined AGO.”
According to him, “Based on the foregoing, it is clear that troops’ focus is on fighting terrorists across the country. Accordingly, the Air Force has been striking the terrorist enclaves with air attacks. Troops have also exerted significant military power in areas in which the terrorists are hibernating.
“Meanwhile, there is no gain in stating that we are at war against a cruel and vicious enemy. It is therefore imperative that we degrade their military capability and effectiveness.
“Overall, troops are mission-focused, prepared and motivated to win the war against terrorism. We recognise that, it is a difficult task and that there would be casualties. We are doing our possible best to minimise the casualties.
On the whole, it is our pride as a force to place ourselves in harm’s way to protect our citizens. We are fully committed to defeating all threats for citizens to live in a safer and more secure environment. This is the sacrifice we make as a force, for our nation.”
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