The military says it has tightened security in several areas across the country in the light of the ongoing protests.
According to a statement on Thursday by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) is not oblivious to the hijacking of the protests which degenerated into chaos and violence in some parts of the country.
Buba expressed sadness at the unfortunate July 31 suicide bombing that led to the loss of 17 civilian lives, while several others sustained injuries and are receiving treatment in hospital. The incident occurred when a female suicide bomber infiltrated and detonated her suicide vest in Kawuri Village of Konduga LGA in Borno State.
“Inspite of the ugly incident, our operations are continuing to deepen our successes particularly in the Northeast, Northwest, Northcentral and southeastern zones of the nation. In the SS, troops restrategised operations to boost optimal output in crude oil production by curbing crude oil theft”, Buba said.
Giving details of troops’ engagement in the various theatres of operation across the country in the month of July, Buba disclosed that troops neutralized 572 terrorists, arrested 790 suspected terrorists and other criminal elements.
Troops also rescued 479 kidnapped hostages and recovered 440 weapons, 10,589 ammunitions and denied the oil theft of the sum of N3,652,382,080.
He gave a breakdown of recoveries in the month of July as including and not limited to the following: 232 AK47 rifles, 93 locally fabricated guns, 82 dane guns, 32 pump action guns, 5,041 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 2,768 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 659 cartridges, 63 assorted arms and 2,259 assorted ammunitions.
Others are 3,650,080 litres of stolen crude oil, 625,518 litres of illegally refined AGO, 450 litres of DPK and 1,230 litres of PMS amongst other items.
He reiterated the military’s strong commitment to its mission of defending the country and protecting its citizens, while urging the public not to compromise on security, “otherwise the security of everyone is compromised”.
