...as troops neutralise 266 terrorists, arrest 463 in January

The Nigerian Defence headquarters (DHQ) has scored troops engaged in terror fight in the various theatre of operations very high for their performance the last one month.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja on Thursday maintained that Nigerian troops need to be applauded because of their commitment towards the fight to rescue Nigeria from the grip of the terror.

He noted that Nigerians should appreciate the fact that it is not the military that is at war here but it is the nation that is at war.

Given breakdown of the success story recorded by the troops so far, DHQ said troops deployed to different parts neutralized 266 terrorists and arrested 463 in the month of January.

The military high command also said troops rescued 116 kidnapped hostages in different theatres of operations.

Gen. Buba also added that troops recovered 447 assorted weapons and 6,697 assorted ammunitions during same period.

According to him, a breakdown of arms and ammunition recovered is: “237 AK47 rifles, 26 locally fabricated guns, 18 pump action guns, 55 dane guns, 6,807 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 421 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 16 rounds of 9mm and 506 live cartridges.

“Others are 1,832,150 litres of stolen crude oil, 523,799 litres of illegally refined AGO, 16,716 litres of DPK and 5,200 litres of PMS amongst other items.”

The Defence spokesperson said troops operating in the South South region of the country denied the oil thieves crude estimated to worth the sum of Two Billion, Eight Hundred and Twenty-One Million, Five Hundred and Three Thousand, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Two Naira (N2,821,503,962.00) only in the month of January.

Speaking on the week under review, General Buba said troops neutralised 105 terrorist and arrested 140 of them.

According to him, troops also arrested 26 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 86 kidnapped hostages.

He disclosed that in the South South I, troops denied oil thieves crude estimated to worth sum of Two Hundred and Twenty Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty-Nine Thousand and Five Hundred Naira (N220,839,500.00) in the last one week.

“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 9 dugout pits, 19 boats, 21 storage tanks and 8 vehicles.

“Other items recovered include 35 cooking ovens, 3 pump machines and 18 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 157,300 litres of stolen crude oil, 23,750 litres of illegally refined AGO and 1,050 litres of DPK,” he said.

He said the armed forces will continue to fulfill its mission of hunting and destroying terrorist and their cohorts across the country in the most professional manner.

“Since the beginning of the year, several terrorists and their leaders have been killed or badly injured owing to offensive actions by both land and air forces. Troops are continuing their actions even at this very moment and we are proud of them and appreciate their brave conduct.

“Needless to mention, these terrorists are left with only two choices which is to either be killed or surrender,” he said.