Nigerian Troops Neutralize 88 Terrorists, Rescue 181 hostages

By Martha Obi, Abuja

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The Nigerian Military says its troops have neutralized 88 terrorists and arrested 228 persons, arrested 40 perpetrators of oil theft, and rescued 181 kidnapped hostages.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward said this in a statement during the weekly review of the activities of the military in the country.

According to him, in South-South Nigeria, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of One Billion, Two Four Million Four Hundred and Twelve Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty Naira (N1,021,412,950.00).

Furthermore, troops recovered 84 assorted weapons and 2,393 assorted ammunition with the breakdown as follows: 34 AK47 rifles, 15 fabricated rifles, 11 Dane guns, 5 fabricated revolver pistols, 8 locally made pistols, 3 pump action guns, and one magnum pump action.

Others are 1,807 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 314 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 146 rounds of 7.62mm PKM ammo, 77 rounds of 9mm ammo, 49 live cartridges, 25 magazines, 2 baofeng radios, 16 vehicles, 35 motorcycles, 27 mobile phones and the sum of N1,851,000.00 amongst other items.

Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 13 crude oil cooking ovens, 20 dugout pits, 73 boats, 25 storage tanks and 59 illegal refining sites. Other items recovered include 3 barges, 7 speedboats, 73 drums, one tricycle, 5 pumping machines, 3 mobile phones, and 9 vehicles among others.

The Troops recovered 942,420 liters of stolen crude oil, 175,075 litres of illegally refined AGO, and 4,980 litres of PMS.

Furthermore, troop offensives have severely depleted ISWAP terrorist rank and file in the North East forcing a desperate recruitment drive.

Similarly, terrorists in the North West are on a recruitment drive on social media for recruits. The Director said the troops are aware of the situation and working with other security agencies and governments to thwart the plans.

“Troops are on an onslaught to crush terrorists in the North West and other parts of the country.

“Accordingly, operations are being modified to box in these terrorists, while also increasing operational intensity to ensure total destruction of all terror groups and dismantling of their terror networks.”

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