WorldStage Newsonline– Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, said it troops has killed no fewer than 94 terrorists during it offensive operations conducted across the country between January 17 and 25; deployed special forces to some hotspots to conduct targeted operations.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, at a biweekly media press briefing disclosed that with the spate of insecurity across the country, the armed forces will destroy the cancer of terrorism that is ravaging the country.
Confirming that the military had deployed several battlefield enablers to enhance intelligence and strike capability on these terrorists, he said troops operations in the north led to the arrest of 171 terrorist, rescued 29 hostages, while 43 perpetrators of oil theft in the south-south region were arrested.
Maj Gen Buba, also disclosed that troops in the south-south, denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Four Hundred and Eighty Five Million Nine Hundred and Eighty Three Thousand One Hundred and Fifty Naira (N485, 983,150.00) only.
He said, 168 assorted weapons and 2,757 assorted ammunition were recovered by troops, while conducting various operations in the country.
He said, “The breakdown as follows: one GPMG, 85 AK47 rifles, one Vektor R4 rifle, one G3 rifle, 10 pump action guns, 12 locally fabricated guns, 6 locally made pistols, 21 dane gun, one double barrel gun, one fabricated revolver rifle, 2 x 36 hand grenades and one fabricated dane gun.
“Others are: 290 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 2,132 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 115 rounds of 5.66mm ammo, 29 rounds of PKT ammo, 10 rounds of 9mm ammo, 297 cartridges, 21 magazines, 14 vehicles, 35 motorcycles, 27 mobile phones, 2 baofeng radios and the sum of N2,594,000.00 amongst other items.
According to him, the Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 16 dugout pits, 51 boats, 49 storage tanks and 3 vehicles, adding that other items recovered include 38 cooking ovens, 3 pump machines and 31 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 363,875 litres of stolen crude oil, 198,315 litres of illegally refined AGO and 5,200 litres of PMS.
He said, “Overall, we would like citizens to clearly understand why we are fighting this war. They should understand that the terrorist will not stop, until they are stopped.
“Everyone should understand that the terrorist and their cohorts exist for the sake of war. Therefore for the sake of peace they must be eliminated. All hands must be on deck, in our villages, communities and environments to ensure that the security forces are supported with necessary information to win this war.
“We also urge trusted voices by the people to use their voice for good and not for evil. There is need to stop the bleeding and commence the healing”, he said.
