July 25, (THEWILL) – The Defence Headquarters, on Thursday, said its troops on internal operations have neutralised 106 suspected terrorists, arrested 164 others and rescued 103 hostages in one week.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who made this known to newsmen in Abuja, said the troops also arrested 32 suspected oil thieves and recovered stolen products worth N793,536,000.00 only.
Meanwhile, the troops have recovered 125 assorted weapons and 1,522 assorted ammunition within the period.
A breakdown of the recovered weapons includes: “41 AK47 rifles, one PKT gun, 24 locally fabricated guns, 28 guns, one pump action gun, 755 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 623 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 102 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 63 live cartridges, 247 empty cases of 7.62mm ammo, 22 AK47 magazines, one baofeng radio, 22 vehicles, 31 motorcycles, two bicycles, 10 mobile phones and the sum of N2,956,000.00 only, amongst other items”.
In the Niger Delta, the Defence Spokesman said troops discovered and destroyed 36 illegal refining sites, 20 dugout pits, 24 boats, 34 storage tanks, 56 cooking ovens, two speedboats, 14 pumping machines, 18 drums, 22 vehicles and four motorcycles.
Similarly, troops recovered 802,200 litres of stolen crude oil, 121,900 litres of illegally refined AGO and 450 litres of DPK.
Buba stressed that military operations are focused on targeting the centre of gravity of terrorists and their cohorts across the country, “finding them, flushing them out and dismantling their military, administrative and logistics capabilities across the various theatres.”
He said the operations are going in an upward trajectory, targeting the terrorist leaders, commanders, foot soldiers as well as their collaborators, adding that many terrorists have been eliminated from the battlefield.
“Troops are not resting on their oars, but are persistent in exerting significant military pressure to defeat terrorists and their cohorts in Northeast, Northwest, and Northcentral Zones,” Buba said.
The Director added that troops in the South-East Zone are sustaining the momentum against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and their armed Eastern Security Network (ESN) cohorts.
In the South-South Zone, General Buba said, “We have established a unified command structure for security operating in the region. Additionally, we are examining other areas such as transparency of IOCs, credible metering of oil wells and the tracking of point of loading to destination of the crude oil.”
While reinforcing surveillance efforts on vessels, terminals and oil infrastructures, Buba said the military is also galvanising the support of host communities as well as stakeholders in the oil sector to fight oil theft.
“Most importantly, troops are monitoring to ensure that culprits are prosecuted by the prosecuting agencies. It is believed that with these measures emplaced, there would be a significant boost in crude oil output for the nation,” he added.
