The Defence Headquarters revealed on Thursday that a significant number of terrorists had been neutralized by troops during various operations conducted between January 17 and 25 across the northern part of Nigeria. The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, disclosed these developments during a press briefing in Abuja.
According to Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, a total of 94 terrorists were killed, and 171 others were arrested during the operations. Additionally, troops apprehended 43 individuals suspected of engaging in oil theft, and a noteworthy recovery of crude oil worth N485 million was made in the South-South region.
Providing further details, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba stated, “During the week under review, troops neutralised 94 and arrested 171 of them. Troops also arrested 43 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 29 kidnapped hostages. In the South-South, troops denied oil thieves crude oil valued at N485,983,150.”
The operations also resulted in the recovery of 168 assorted weapons and 2,757 assorted ammunition. The weapons included one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), 85 AK-47 rifles, one Vektor R4 rifle, one G3 rifle, 10 pump-action guns, 12 locally-fabricated guns, six locally-made pistols, 21 Dane guns, one double-barrel gun, one fabricated revolver rifle, 2 x 36 hand grenades, and one fabricated dane gun.
In the South-South operations, troops deployed in the Niger Delta region discovered and destroyed 16 dugout pits, 51 boats, 49 storage tanks, and three vehicles. Other items recovered included 38 cooking ovens, three pumping machines, and 31 illegal refining sites. The seized quantities included 363,875 litres of stolen crude oil, 198,315 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), and 5,200 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
These accomplishments underscore the military’s commitment to addressing security challenges in both the northern and South-South regions, as articulated by Maj. Gen. Edward Buba during the comprehensive briefing in Abuja.
