Defence Headquarters DHQ says troops of Operation Delta Safe have discovered and immobilized a total of 39 illegal refining sites, 91 cooking ovens, 24 reservoirs, 17 large dugout pits and 96 storage tanks in Rivers State, South- South, Nigeria.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Bernard Onyeuko who disclosed this to Journalists during News briefing in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital said that the achievement were recorded in the past two weeks.
“A total of 637,500 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil and 950,000 litres of stolen crude oil were recovered in the course of the operations,” he said.
According to him, 10 criminals associated with pipeline vandalism, piracy, illegal oil bunkering and armed robbery were arrested within the period.
He also said “troops recovered three assorted arms, 48 rounds of different calibre of ammunitions, two AK-47 rifle magazines as well as 17 pieces of galvanized pipes and 23 wooden boats among other items used for illegal oil bunkering activities in the course of the operations”.
He added that all the arrested criminals and recovered items have been handed over to relevant security agencies for further action.
Operation Safe Haven
The Director noted that within the last two weeks, troops of Operation SAFE HAVEN carried out several operational activities at different locations of the theatre that yielded significant results in the course of the operations. Troops arrested some criminal elements including armed robbers and bandits, their collaborators, drug peddlers and fraudsters as well as rescued kidnapped civilians and recovered several items of security concern.
Onyeuko said that “the troops arrested 27 criminal elements and rescued six kidnapped civilians”.
Also, troops recovered five arms and 69 different calibres of ammunition among other items of security concern in the course of their operations.
Operation Whirl Stroke
The operational efforts of troops in Operation WHIRL STROKE within the period resulted in the neutralization and arrest of armed bandits and other criminal elements, recovery of arms and ammunition as well as rescue of kidnapped civilians.
Consequently, a total of five criminals were arrested, while nine different arms including AK-47 rifles and some locally-made guns as well as 742 rounds of different calibres of ammunition were recovered.
Additionally, troops rescued two kidnapped civilians and recovered two motorcycles, while large quantities of cannabis sativa were impounded in the course of the operations within the same period.
He said “peace and security meetings were held with community and youth leaders and other critical stakeholders as non-kinetic means of tackling insecurity”.
Some of these meetings were held at Nasarawa State Government House, Lafia and Office of the District Head of Lau Lau LGA of Taraba State.
Operation Hadarin Daji
Onyeuko noted that the troops of Operation HADARIN DAJI within the last two weeks, maintained the operational tempo by conducting clearance operations on criminal enclaves across the theatre.
According to him, these operations resulted in the neutralization of 12 armed bandits and arrest of 15 including their collaborators. Also, a total of 16 assorted arms and 136 rounds of different calibres of ammunition and 114 rustled livestock were recovered by own troops within the period.
In addition, troops recovered three extra magazines of AK-47 rifle and four motorcycles from bandits, while a total of three kidnapped civilians were rescued in the course of the operations.
Operation Hadin Kai
General Onyeuko said that in Operation HADIN KAI, troops conducted various land and air operations in different locations of the theatre with renewed vigour that recorded significant results in the last two weeks.
Notably, ground troops with the support of the Air Component aggressively foiled terrorists’ attempted infiltration into Biu town in Borno State.
During the encounter, troops neutralized scores of terrorists and captured their gun trucks and other weapons.
He said “these operations resulted in the elimination and arrest of several terrorists, recovery of assorted arms, ammunition, livestock and other items of security concern as well as rescue of abducted civilians”.
Surrender of terrorists
Furthermore, troops’ operational activities have continued to drive terrorists out of their camps into surrendering with their arms and families in the North East Zone of the Country.
Consequently, within this period under review, own troops neutralized a total of 37 terrorist elements, arrested 17 of them as well as recovered 21 assorted arms and 117 rounds of different calibres of ammunition, while a total of four gun trucks were captured from the terrorists.
Additionally, troops rescued a total of 16 abducted civilians within the period.
A total of 863 terrorists and their families comprising 136 adult males, 251 adult females and 476 children surrounded to own troops deployed at different locations, including; Banki, Bama, Dikwa, Gwoza and Gamboru towns in Borno State, within the period.
He noted that the surrendered terrorists have been properly profiled and handed over to appropriate authorities for necessary actions.
Relatedly, the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI scored devastating hits on terrorists’ stronghold at Arina Chiki village in the Lake Chad Basin in Borno State, which resulted in the neutralization of scores of the terrorist, while several others escaped with various degrees of injuries.
Nneka Ukachukwu
