…Neutralise 147 terrorists, arrest 381 others
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Thursday says troops deployed to different theatres of operations across the country neutralised 147 terrorists and arrested 381 persons.
The military high command also said troops also arrested 23 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 113 kidnapped hostages.
Director Defence Media Operations Maj-Gen. Edward Buba who disclosed while briefing journalists in Abuja, added that troops in the South South region denied oil thieves crude estimated to worth the sum of Nine Hundred and Forty Three Million One Hundred and Sixty One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty Naira (N943,161,680.00) only.
The defence spokesperson said the recently rejigged war against crude oil theft operations in the Niger Delta has begun to yield noticeable increase in the nations’s crude oil production.
“Though we are not yet at where we want to be in terms of daily crude oil production, troops will sustenance the renewed vigor and momentum till crude oil production target is achieved and exceeded,” he said.
He disclosed that troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 15 dugout pits, 17 boats, 62 drums, one receiver and 27 storage tanks.
“Other items recovered include 32 cooking ovens, 2 outboard engines, 2 pumping machines, 2 vehicles, one tricycle, 3 motorcycles and 84 illegal refining sites.
“Troops recovered 920,800 litres of stolen crude oil, 88,760 litres of illegally refined AGO and 7,500 litres of PMS,” he said.
Speaking further, General Buba said troops recovered 74 assorted weapons and 3,498 assorted ammunition.
The breakdown as follows: “One dushka, one RPG bomb, one RPG charger, 42 AK47 rifles, 10 fabricated rifles, 13 dane guns, one FN rifle, one revolver pistol, one locally made pistol, 27 magazines, one AK47 dummy rifle, one AK47 top cover and one baofeng radio.
“Others are 288 rounds RG55 ammo, 40 rounds CJ95 ammo, 2,466 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 470 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 73 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 112 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm, 42 live cartridges, 6 vehicles, 32 motorcycles and 8 mobile phones amongst other items.”
He said the Armed Forces of Nigeria is constantly assessing its actions, adjusting and amending operations in order annihilate terrorist across.
“Accordingly, troops are working decisively to kill the terrorist , stop the insecurity and ensure the safety of citizens across the country,” he said.
