The Defence Headquarters said the Military Troops neutralised over 86 terrorists and arrested over 101 criminals in different operations across the country in the last week.
Director, Defence Media Operations, Major-General Edward Buba, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja to newsmen while giving an update on the Military operations.
According to Buba “The aim of our ongoing operations remains unchanged and clear even in the new year 2024. We aim to find and destroy the terrorist wherever they may be hiding to ensure their enduring defeat. This would deny the terrorist the ability to terrorize or hurt citizens across the country.
“Under our goal, troops have in the last one week, focused on striking the terrorist enclaves from our air attacks. We also exerted significant military power in areas in which the terrorists were hibernating.
“Our operations resulted in 86 neutralized terrorists with 101 of them arrested. Troops also arrested 30 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 21 kidnapped hostages. In the SS, troops denied oil theft of the estimated sum of Seven Hundred and Thirty-Six Million One Hundred and Fifteen Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Naira (N736,115,470.00) only.”
Major General Buba further said, “troops recovered 111 assorted weapons and 1,124 assorted ammunitions. The breakdown is as follows: 65 AK47 rifles, one HK G3 dun, one G3 rifle, 8 locally fabricated guns, 15 Dane guns, 2 fabricated rifles, one locally made pistol, one English pistol, one pump action gun, 2 auto pump action gun, 2 single barrel guns.
“Others are 14 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 993 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 5 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 5 rounds of 7.62mm x 39mm, 99 live cartridges, one round of 9mm ammo, one of short gun cartridge, 2 bandoliers, 2 fabricated swords, 13 magazines, 5 vehicles, 29 motorcycles, 6 bicycles, mobile phones and one GTA radio amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 37 dugout pits, 65 boats, 71 storage tanks, 14 vehicles. Other items recovered include 108 cooking ovens, 4 pump machines, one speedboat and 60 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 1,013,530 litres of stolen crude oil, 299,169 litres of illegally refined AGO and 3,158 litres of DPK.
“Our operations indicate that we are hunting the terrorist commanders and their senior leadership. Indeed, from their topmost leadership to the lowest commanders are dead men walking and we will stop at nothing until they are dead or surrender.”
Highlighting the successes recorded by the different theatre commands across the country, Maj. Gen Buba said, “Troops of Operation HADIN KAI in the North-east neutralized 20 terrorists, arrested 4 and rescued 40 kidnapped hostages. Troops recovered 13 AK47 rifles, one locally fabricated gun, one locally fabricated pistol, 4 magazines, 5 rounds of 7.62x39mm ammo,157 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 4 motorcycles, 6 bicycles, a mobile phone and one baofeng radio.
“In the North Central, Troops of Operation SAFE HAVEN arrested 21 violent extremists and rescued 23 kidnapped hostages. Troops recovered one AK47 rifle loaded with 22 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, one locally fabricated rifle, one pistol and one mobile phone. While Troops of Operation WHIRL STROKE rescued 4 kidnapped hostages.
“Troops of Operation HADARIN DAJI in the North West neutralized 56 terrorists, arrested 10 and rescued 40 kidnapped hostages. Troops also recovered 34 AK47 rifles, 5 locally made guns, one locally made pistol, dane guns, 2 bandoliers, 449 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 26 live cartridges, 2 locally fabricated swords, 3 magazine, 8 motorcycles, 6 mobile phones and 2 GTA radio. Also, Troops of Operation WHIRL PUNCH neutralized 13 violent extremists, arrested 15 and rescued 23 kidnapped hostages. Troops recovered 11 AK47 rifle, 172 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 11 magazines, 9 motorcycles and one mobile phone.
“In the South-South geo-political zone, Troops of Operation DELTA SAFE recovered 1,013,530 litres of stolen crude oil, 299,269 litres of illegally refined AGO and 3,158 litres of DPK. Additionally, Troops discovered and destroyed 28 dugout pits, 30 boats, 45 storage tanks and 5 vehicles. Other items recovered include 75 cooking ovens, one speedboat, 3 pump machines and 45 illegal refining sites.
“Troops also neutralized 2 violent extremists, apprehended 30 suspected oil thefts and neutralized 2 violent extremists/insurgents. Troops recovered 15 assorted weapons, 234 assorted ammunitions, 8 motorcycles, 2 tricycles and 5 pairs of woodland camouflage.
“Troops of Operation UDOKA in the South-East zone, arrested 15 violent extremists/IPOB and rescued 3 kidnapped hostages. Troops recovered 2 auto pump action guns, one pump action gun, 2 single barrel guns, 71 live cartridges, 5 motorcycles, FRSC uniform and NP accoutrements.
“In the South West, Troops of Operation AWATSE arrested 6 violent extremists and recovered one Berretta pistol, one round of 9mm ammo, 3 mobile phones one dagger and 4 bags of substance suspected to be cannabis. All recovered items, arrested suspects and rescued hostages were handed over to the relevant authority for further action.”
While commending the efforts of the military so far, Maj. Gen. Buba said “The Armed Forces have demonstrated commitment by our actions to winning this war. Troops will, therefore, continue to act with tremendous force to achieve the task ahead.”
