The Defence Headquarters says troops on internal operations have neutralised 106 suspected terrorists, arrested 164 and rescued 103 hostages within a week.
The Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who briefed newsmen on the development on Thusday in Abuja said that the troops also arrested 32 suspected oil thieves and recovered stolen products valued at worth N793.536 million.
General Buba said the troops also recovered 125 weapons and 1,522 assorted ammunition within the period.
He gave a breakdown of recovered weapons as 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 case 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.
He said in the Niger Delta, the troops discovered and destroyed 36 illegal refining sites, 20 dugouts, 24 boats, 34 storage tanks, 56 cooking ovens, two speedboats, 14 pumping machines, 18 drums, 22 vehicles and four motorcycles.
Similarly, the troops have recovered 802,200 litres of stolen crude oil, 121,900 litres of illegally refined AGO and 450 litres of DPK.
General Buba stressed that military operations are focussed 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 and 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 South-East Zone are sustaining the momentum against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and their armed Eastern Security Network (ESN) cohorts.
Meanwhile, in the South-South Zone, General Buba said troops have continued to battle perpetrators of crude oil theft.
“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,” he said.
Buba stated further that military was also galvanising the support of host communities as well as stakeholders in the oil sector, and also reinforcing surveillance efforts on vessels, terminals and oil infrastructures to include jackets, that house well heads.
“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 said.
