Military Presence In Edo To Deter Troublemakers, Support Police – DHQ
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
The Defence Headquarters has allayed concerns about the presence of troops in Edo state, ahead of the gubernatorial elections holding in Saturday, 21 September 2024.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, said on Friday that the presence of the military in the state is to thwart the activities of elements bent on formenting crisis during the elections, as well as to support the police to ensure voters’ safety and security.
TheFact Daily reports that there has been heavy presence of soldiers on the borders of Edo State with Kogi, Delta, Ondo and Anambra states since Thursday, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in the South-South state. Detachments of soldiers and policemen were also observed along Akpapava Road, Ring Road, Sapele Road bypass, Ramat Park, Benin-Agbor Road and Oregbeni, a known dark spot in the city.
It will be recalled also that the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, on Wednesday, met with Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and assured him that the Nigerian Army, in collaboration with sister security agencies, had the mandate of President Bola Tinubu to ensure a free, fair, credible, and peaceful governorship election in the state on Saturday, September 21.
On troops’ activities within one week, Buba revealed that troops neutralised 159 and arrested 174 persons. They also arrested 45 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 188 kidnapped hostages.
In the South South troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Seven Hundred and Thirty Six Million Nine Hundred and Seventy One Thousand Four Hundred and Fifty Naira (N736,971,450.00) only.
He said troops recovered 151 assorted weapons and 12,401 assorted ammunition, with a breakdown as follows: 3 PKT guns, 1 SLR, 92 AK-47 rifles, 25 fabricated rifles, 15 dane guns, 4 pump action guns, 4 locally made pistols, 1 pistol, 2 RPG tubes, 1 RPG bomb, 66 AK-47 magazines, 1 FN magazine and 2 locally fabricated hand grenades.
Others are: 10,346 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,094 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 92 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 479 rounds of PKT ammo, 182 rounds of MG ammo, 43 rounds of 9.5mm ammo, 12 rounds of 9mm ammo, 35 live cartridges, 35 empty cases of 7.62mm ammo, 2 baofeng radios, 15 vehicles, 39 motorcycles, 28 mobile phones and the sum of N5,386,200.00 only amongst other items.
Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 9 dugout pits, 35 boats, 4 speedboats, 32 drums and 57 storage tanks. Other items recovered include 20 cooking ovens, one pumping machine, 14 vehicles, one motorcycles, one tricycle, 10 mobile phones and 71 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 788,400 litres of stolen crude oil, 28,995 litres of illegally refined AGO, 300 litres of DPK and 3,000 litres of PMS.
“Our operations against the terrorist and violent extremist remains aimed at providing security and stability for the nation and citizens. Troops will therefore continue to be relentless in pursuit of ending all forms of insecurity across the country”, Buba stated, adding that, “the armed forces is taking resolute steps in ending terrorism and insecurity in the country, through ongoing operations”.
Accordingly, he averred, the operations are yielding desired results as troops dismantle terrorist networks and decimate their leadership and combatants. Indeed, several of the terrorist leaders and commanders have been eliminated from the battlefield.
