The operations of the Nigerian troops in the last week have resulted in the neutralisation of 73 terrorists, with 182 of them arrested.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, disclosed this when briefing journalists on the operational activities of the troops in the ongoing counter-insurgency, which were achieved in collaboration with foreign partners in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
General Buba said that “troops also arrested 14 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 68 kidnapped hostages.“
He noted that in the southern part of the country, troops denied oil theft of the estimated sum of one billion, two hundred and twelve million, forty-six thousand, and one hundred and forty naira (N1, 212,046,140.00) only.
Furthermore, troops recovered 119 assorted weapons and 1,537 assorted ammunition.
According to him, the breakdown is as follows: one GPMG, three PKT guns, 39 AK47 rifles, 5 locally fabricated rifles, one locally made double barrel gun, one barrel pistol, four locally made pistols, five RPG bombs, 5 pump action guns, one short gun, one hand grenade, two Dane guns, one AK47 rifle loaded with 14 rounds of 7.62mm Special, and one locally made pistol loaded with live cartridges.7.
Others are 586 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, a bag containing 287 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 389 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 141 rounds of 7.62mm special (belted) ammo, 12 rounds of 9mm ammo, 113 rounds of live cartridges, 25 empty magazines, 13 vehicles, 3 motorcycles, 10 mobile phones, 2 HH radios, one Boafeng radio, and the sum of N3,308,700.00, amongst other items.
The director also added that troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 15 dugout pits, 45 boats, 87 storage tanks, 128 cooking ovens, one pumping machine, four outboard engines, and 63 illegal refining sites.
Troops recovered 962,500 litres of stolen crude oil, 35,420 litres of illegally refined AGO, 38,450 litres of DPK, and 45,000 litres of PMS, he said.
Significantly, these operations have killed or captured several terrorists, extremist leaders, their facilitators, key associates, and numerous of their foot soldiers.
According to him, terrorists and extremists alike are now perplexed and suffocated, with little or no hiding place. It is now a question of whether sooner or later it will be too late for most of them.
The military conducted a surgical operation targeted at the residence of an ISWAP terrorist commander in Niger State, he added.
Several arrests and discoveries were made as a result of the operation. However, being an ongoing operation, not much can be revealed at this stage.
Nevertheless, one thing is certain: the operation is just one of several others to flush out the terrorists.
He said that ‘the message is clear to all. You are either on the side of Nigerians and the armed forces or against us in the fight against terrorists and extremists.”
The ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations have prevented these evil elements from accomplishing their strategic objectives.
The military will continue to degrade their ability to carry out small-scale attacks that are intended to create panic in localities.
The Public Relations and Information Officer of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, narrated the successes recorded by the troops through an air strike across the border, which killed many terrorists.
Meanwhile, a minute of silence was observed in honour of those soldiers who paid the supreme price for their duties.
