The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) weekend says troops deployed to different theatres of operations neutralised 216 terrorists and arrested 332 persons.
The military high command also said troops arrested 24 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 161 kidnapped hostages across the country.
Director Defence Media Operations Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba who disclosed this in a statement, noted that troops denied oil thieves crude estimated to worth the sum of “Four Hundred and Forty Eight Million Five Hundred Fifty Seven Thousand Five Hundred and Ninty Naira (N448,557,590.00) only.”
According to him, troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 97 dugout pits, 6 boats, 20 storage tanks, 2 receivers, 16 drums and 7 vehicles.
“Other items recovered incl 174 cooking ovens, one pumping machine and 8 illegal refining sites.
“Troops recovered 533,127 litres of stolen crude oil and 24,520 litres of illegally refined AGO,” he said.
General Buba further said troops recovered 234 assorted weapons and 5,994 assorted ammunition.
He said the breakdown as follows: “131 AK47 rifles, 3 PKT guns, one M16 rifle, 43 locally fabricated gun, 21 dane guns, one 105mm gun, 2 automatic pump action guns, 18 locally fabricated pistols, 8 single barrel guns, 2 automatic pump action guns, one LG4 bomb, one MG skeleton, 3 explosive IED case, one MOWAG APC, one 81mm mortar tripod stand
“Others are; 3,120 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 2,195 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 211 rounds of 9mm ammo, 99 rounds of 7.62 x 25mm ammo, 467 live cartridges, one rifle butt, 15 magazines, 2 baofeng radios, 10 vehicles, 38 motorcycles, 43 mobile phones and the sum of N871,500.00 amongst other items.”
He added that the military is going to continue to be very kinetic and strong against the terrorist in ongoing counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations across the country.
“Indeed, we will banish and defeat terrorism from the nation rather than bow to it.
“Troops are maintaining the momentum in neutralizing the terrorist leaders and commanders. Indeed, we remain focused in fighting for the basic safety and security of citizens of this country,” he said.
