The Defence Headquarters says as far as the war on terrorism in the country is concerned, the military is in a good and strong position as it is taking out several terrorists and their leaders.
Director of Defence Media Operations (DDMO), Maj. Gen. Edwards Buba, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, updating Defence journalists on the ongoing military operations across the country as at 19th July 2024.
According to him, during the week under review, troops neutralised 125 terrorists and arrested 200 persons. They also arrested 20 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 140 kidnapped hostages.
In the Southsouth, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Seven Hundred and Forty Four Million One Hundred and Fifty Three Thousand Nine Hundred Naira (N744,153,900.00) only.
Furthermore, troops recovered 120 assorted weapons and 1,793 assorted ammunition, a breakdown of which reveals 56 AK47 rifles, 26 locally fabricated guns, 22 dane guns, 1 SMG rifle, 7 pump action guns, 1 fabricated barretta pistol, 7 locally made guns, 5 60mm mortar bomb unexploded ordinances and 2 small rubber gun powder.
Others are: 1,244 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 383 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 88 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 78 live cartridges, 24 empty case of 7.62mm ammo, 21 AK47 magazines, one baofeng radio, 6 vehicles, 11 motorcycles, 5 bicycles, 38 mobile phones and the sum of N2,737,145.00 amongst other items.
In the Niger Delta area, troops discovered and destroyed 11 dugout pits, 5 boats and 20 storage tanks. Other items recovered include 31 cooking ovens, 5 vehicles, 3 mobile phones and 31 illegal refining sites.
Troops recovered 715,325 litres of stolen crude oil and 148,415 litres of illegally refined AGO.
“On the whole, the military is in a good and strong position in the war against terrorist with many terrorist leaders killed. Our operation continues to focus at providing security and stability for the nation and citizens”, Buba stated.
