Troops of the Nigerian Armed Forces have eliminated 181 terrorists and arrested 203 others, as well as 50 perpetrators of oil theft.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, said the achievements recorded within the period under review comes on the heels of troops’ continued onslaught and aggression against terrorists across the various theatres of operation in the country, and especially in the Northwest theatre where fighting was intense, “with dry season operations fully on course”.
Buba also disclosed that, several notorious kidnappers and a notorious gun runner, identified as Mohammed Musa (aka Mamman) were arrested in Plateau State among others, adding that efforts are aimed at degrading terrorists by wherever they are hibernating or hiding.
Troops also rescued 161 kidnapped hostages, a d In the Southsouth, denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of N728,297,650 only.
Furthermore, troops recovered 228 assorted weapons and 6,749 assorted ammunition, with a breakdown as follows: 4 GPMGs, 3 G3 rifles, 85 AK-47 rifles, 38 fabricated rifles, 36 dane guns, 12 FN rifles, 3 fabricated revolver pistol, 24 locally made pistols, 16 pump action guns, 2 single barrel guns, one berretta pistol, 4 hand grenades, 3 IEDs and 63 magazines.
Others are: 2,891 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,354 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 586 rounds of 7.62 x 51mm ammo, 821 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 12 rounds of 5.56mm ammo, 409 rounds of 7.62mm PKT ammo, 32 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm PKT ammo, 21 rounds of 9mm ammo, 618 live cartridges, 1,146 assorted empty cases of ammo, 3 bandoliers, 4 baofeng radios, 15 vehicles, 33 motorcycles, 42 mobile phones and the sum of N577,800.00 only amongst other items.
In the Niger-Delta region, troops discovered and destroyed 25 crude oil cooking ovens, 10 dugout pits, 38 boats, 44 storage tanks and 47 illegal refining sites. Other items recovered include 6 speedboats, 3 receivers, 48 drums, 3 motorcycles, one mobile phone and 12 vehicles among others. They recovered 765,680 litres of stolen crude oil and 86,725 litres of illegally refined AGO.
“Troops will continue to act with tremendous force to ensure the terrorists and their cohorts are completely destroyed. Troops will also continue to create an atmosphere in which citizens live in peace and are safe from acts of terror”, Buba stated.
