Troops Neutralize 156 terrorists, Arrested 464 in Ongoing Military Operations
By Ewache Ajefu
In the last one week, Nigeria troops killed not less than 156 terrorists and bandits while about 464 were arrested, the Defence Headquarters has said.
Troops also arrested 29 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 181 kidnapped hostages.
Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba disclosed this in the bi-Weekly briefing to defence correspondents in Abuja.
According to him, troops in the South South denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Six Hundred and Twenty Three Million Four Hundred and Forty Seven Thousand Three Hundred and Ninty Naira (N623,447,390.00) only.
Furthermore, troops recovered 219 assorted weapons and 2,871 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: one GPMG, 68 AK47 rifles, one AK56 rifle, 12 fabricated rifles, 4 FN rifles, 4 dane guns, 7 pump action guns, one foreign double barrel gun, 9 fabricated IEDs, 18 FN grenades, 6 RPG bombs, 27 magazines, 4 IEDs and making materials.
Others are: 1,618 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 676 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 16 rounds of 7.62 x 51mm ammo, 68 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 317 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm ammo, 73 rounds of 12.7mm ammo, 175 rounds of PKT ammo, one box of 12.7mm ammo, 25 live cartridges, one baofeng radio, 10 vehicles, 42 motorcycles, 29 mobile phones amongst other items.
Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 48 crude oil cooking ovens, 10 dugout pits, 56 storage tanks and 46 illegal refining sites. Troops also recovered 705,294 litres of stolen crude oil, 6,865 litres of illegally refined AGO, 1,500 litres of DPK and 800 litres of PMS
Other items recovered include 28 boats,8 pumping machines and 6 speedboats. Additional are:3 outboard engines, 6 drums, 8 motorcycles, one mobile phone and 8 vehicles among others.
He noted that the military is profoundly conscious of its role and responsibility in ending insurgency and terrorism in the nation. Accordingly, troops are thwarting and eliminating forms of resurgent terror attacks in the NW and NE, caused by influx of foreign fighters from the Sahelian Region.
Though troops might record occasional tactical setbacks which is common place in any threatre of war. Our strategic objective of breaking the terrorist will to fight remains resolute and unhindered.
He says the just concluded Armed Forces Celebration and Remembrance Day was
a stack reminder that our fallen heroes have not died in vain, nothing that the life of any personnel lost in battle contributes to making our nation safer.
According to him, the military is committed to winning the war against terrorists and insurgency across the country. This is demonstrated as troops are fighting with great effort, determination and sacrifice to bring about great results.
He urged citizens to embrace security as everybody’s business and not that of the military, adding that citizens must not compromise on security, otherwise everyone’s security is compromised.
