The Defence Headquarters said troops of the Nigerian Military arrested 61 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 129 kidnapped hostages in ongoing military operations by the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), as of Friday, November 29, 2024.
This was revealed by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba.
He also disclosed that the Troops recorded the surrendering of terrorists in the North Central operational theatres. The surrender was occasioned by overtures from the terrorist leadership based on the troops’ onslaught against them. Therefore, a non-kinetic collaborative effort with stakeholders was deployed to encourage the surrendering process
According to General Buba, “Several terrorist leaders, commanders and combatants have so far surrendered with more indicating interest to surrender. Notable terrorists that have surrendered include Yellow Jambros, Alhaji Mallam, Ardo Idi (Alhaji Lawal), Lawal Kwalba, Salkado, Yellow Ibrahim, Gana’e and Babangida among others.
“Nevertheless, troops will sustain their operational tempo to destroy or cause further surrendering by terrorists. However, during the week under review, troops neutralised 135 and arrested 185 persons.
“Troops also arrested 61 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 129 kidnapped hostages. In the South-South operational theatre, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Eight Hundred and Eighty-Nine Million Two Hundred and Thirty-Three Thousand Twenty Naira (N889,233,020.00) only.”
He said “Troops recovered 113 assorted weapons and 2,415 assorted ammunition. The breakdown is as follows: 72 AK47 rifles, 11 fabricated rifles, 15 dane guns, 3 locally made pistols, 8 pump action guns, 4 hand grenades, one RPG bomb and tube.
“Others are 1,554 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 380 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 203 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 129 live cartridges, 28 shotgun cartridges, 500 empty cases of MG ammo, 30 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm ammo, 49 rounds of 5.7mm ammo, 165 live cartridges, 10 rounds of 9mm ammo, 38 magazines, 2 baofeng radios, 3 handheld radios, 2 baofeng radios, 15 vehicles, 46 motorcycles, 28 mobile phones and the sum of N732,000.00 only amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 93 crude oil cooking ovens, 12 dugout pits, 37 boats, 127 drums, 41 storage tanks and 82 illegal refining sites. Other items recovered include one outboard engine, 4 speedboats, 3 HH radios, 4 motorcycles, 5 mobile phones and 14 vehicles. Troops recovered 909,800 litres of stolen crude oil, 71,060 litres of illegally refined AGO and 13,580 litres of PMS.
“Overall, troops will continue to find innovative solutions to tackling the myriad of security challenges confronting the nation. We remain in a winning position in the war.”
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