The Nigerian Defence Headquarters has stated unequivocally that they are winning the war in the fight against terrorism, kidnapping and other vices currently bedeviling the country.

Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba who made the disclosure on Friday in Abuja during the end of year press briefing also announced that a total of 6,886 terrorists and criminal elements were neutralized in 2023.

In addition he noted that troops also arrested 6,970 suspected terrorists, rescued 4,488 kidnapped hostages, and recovered 3,320 assorted weapons and 39,075 assorted ammunition.

Major General Buba, said significant achievements also included the recovery of 100,316,600 litres of crude oil, 60,339,426 litres of AGO, 3,465,450 litres of DPK, and 3,544,990 litres of PMS in the South South Zone, addressing issues of crude oil theft and economic sabotage.

DHQ also highlighted major security threats in 2023, including terrorism, armed banditry, kidnapping, oil theft, secessionist agitations, and farmers-herders clashes. Threat dynamics were categorized along geo-political zones, with specific challenges in each region.

The North Central and North West regions faced armed banditry and terrorism, while the North East continued to grapple with the Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgency.

In the South-East and South-West, secessionist agitations by IPOB and the Yoruba Nation posed challenges. The South-South region dealt with oil theft, cultism, and youth restiveness.

General Buba emphasized that most security threats stemmed from the proliferation of small arms, facilitated by porous borders and local arms fabrication factories. The armed forces employed both kinetic and non-kinetic efforts to address these challenges across all geo-political zones.

Despite the fluid and dynamic nature of the security situation, General Buba affirmed that the armed forces, in collaboration with other services and security agencies, remained in a dominant position. Resources were allocated to enhance troops’ capacity, resulting in increased stability across various theatres of operations.

General Buba addressed the incident in Bokkos and Barkin Ladi on December 24, 2023, assuring that the military’s response was hindered by challenging terrain and promising measures to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.