Nigerian soldiers on the frontline have killed 86 terrorists, arrested 101 of them and rescued 21 kidnapped hostages.
Spokesman of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba who made the disclosure noted that the aim of military ongoing operations remains unchanged and clear even in the new year 2024.
According to him, the military high command aims to find and destroy the terrorist wherever they may be hiding to ensure their enduring defeat. This would deny the terrorist the ability to terrorize or hurt citizens across the country.
“Pursuant to our goal, troops have in the last one week, focussed on striking the terrorist enclaves from our air attacks. We also exerted significant military power on areas in which the terrorists are hibernating.
“Our operations resulted in 86 neutralized terrorists with 101 of them arrested. Troops also arrested 30 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 21 kidnapped hostages. In the SS, troops denied oil theft of the estimated sum of Seven Hundred and Thirty Six Million One Hundred and Fifteen Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Naira (N736,115,470.00) only.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 111 assorted weapons and 1,124 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: 65 AK47 rifles, one HK G3 dun, one G3 rifle, 8 locally fabricated guns, 15 dane guns, 2 fabricated rifle, one locally made pistol, one english pistol, one pump action gun, 2 auto pump action gun, 2 single barrel guns.
“Others are: 14 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 993 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 5 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 5 rounds of 7.62mm x 39mm, 99 live cartridges, one round of 9mm ammo, one of short gun cartridge, 2 bandoliers, 2 fabricated swords, 13 magazines, 5 vehicles, 29 motorcycles, 6 bicycles, mobile phones and one GTA radio amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 37 dugout pits, 65 boats, 71 storage tanks, 14 vehicles. Other items recovered incl 108 cooking ovens, 4 pump machines, one speedboat and 60 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 1,013,530 litres of stolen crude oil, 299,169 litres of illegally refined AGO and 3,158 litres of DPK.
“Our operations clearly indicate that we are hunting the terrorist commanders and their seniors leadership. Indeed, from their topmost leadership to the lowest commanders are dead men walking and we will stop at nothing until they are dead or surrender.
“The armed forces has demonstrated commitment by our actions to winning this war. Troops will therefore continue to act with tremendous force to achieve the task ahead.”
