Troops neutralise 202 terrorists, apprehend 437, others in one week -DHQ

Chidimma Uchegbu – Abuja

The Defence Headquarters DHQ Abuja says troops have eliminated 202, and arrested 437 of them in the past one week.

The Director, Defence Media Operations (DDMO) Maj-Gen Edward Buba who made this known in a statement on Friday, said in the last one week, the military have been striking the terrorist enclaves with air attacks.

He therefore revealed that scores of terrorists were neutralized, as many were apprehended, among other notable achievements.

He said,”Ongoing counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations remains focussed on fighting the terrorist and their cohorts across the country. Accordingly, in the last one week, the military have been striking the terrorist enclaves with air attacks. Similarly, the ground forces have exerted significant military power on areas in which the terrorists are hibernating.

“During the week under review, troops neutralised 202 and arrested 437 persons. Troops also arrested 30 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 209 kidnapped hostages. In the SS, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Seven Hundred and Eighteen Million One Hundred and Seventy One Thousand Naira (N718,171,000.00) only.”

On recovered arms and ammunitions, he revealed,”Furthermore, troops recovered 201 assorted weapons and 5,346 assorted ammunition.

“The breakdown as follows: 3 G3 rifles, 105 AK47 rifles, 4 AK49 rifles, 17 locally fabricated gun, 37 dane guns, 9 pump action guns, one fabricated SMG, 2 double barrel guns, 2 single barrel guns, one pistol, 6 locally fabricated pistol, one revolver rifle, one damaged PKT, 4 grenades, one RPG bomb, one charger and 4 bandoliers.

“Others are: 3,232 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 833 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 59 rounds of 9mm ammo, 28 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 1,017 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm, 177 live cartridges, 118 magazines, 9 baofeng radios, 8 vehicles, 118 motorcycles, 10 vehicles, 3 bicycles, 44 mobile phones and the sum of N74,702,320.00 only amongst other items.”

Gen. Buba stated that troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 28 dugout pits, 15 boats and 55 storage tanks.

According to him, other items recovered include 7 cooking ovens, 7 vehicles, 8 mobile phones, 2 pumping machines, 2 baofeng radios, one outboard engine and 45 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 707,200 litres of stolen crude oil, 149,700 litres of illegally refined AGO and 400 litres of DPK.

The DDMO stressed that the armed forces remains steadfast in executing its role to restore the safety and security of the citizens of the country.

He assured that troops are in a good place in winning the war