The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Friday said troops deployed to different theaters of operations across the country neutralised 38 terrorists and their commanders.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba said this Friday in a statement.
He said during the week in focus, air assets conducted aggressive air flights on confirmed locations active with the movement of terrorist commanders and their foot soldiers.
“Recently, the military conducted two major air strikes on terrorist enclaves. One of the strikes, on 6 Dec 23, neutralized several top terrorist commanders. Namely, one Machika, a top terrorist bomb expert and younger brother of a notorious terrorist(Dogo Gide). Other prominent terrorist leaders neutralised include Haro and Dan Muhammadu both of whom are specialists in kidnapping and assault operations respectively,” he said.
“Additionally, on 11 Dec 23, through a synchronised strike between air and ground forces aimed at the same target. A renowned terrorist leader responsible for the abduction of the students of Federal University Gusau, Zamfara state, Ali Alhaji ALHERI popularly called Kachalla Ali KAWAJE was neutralise in Munya LGA of Niger state along with many of his foot soldiers. The military is fast closing in on others and they will equally suffer the same fate,” he said.
He said troops recovered 67 assorted weapons and 1,194 assorted ammunition.
According to him, the breakdown are as follows: “20 AK47 rifles, 4 pump action guns, 5 locally fabricated rifles, 2 locally fabricated double barrel guns, one barreta pistol, 4 locally made pistols, 13 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 1,152 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 13 rounds of 9mm ammo, one round of 5.56mm ammo, 15 live cartridges.
“Others are: one magazine loaded with 8 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, one LMG magazine, one CZ pistol magazine, 7 empty magazines, one locally made pistol magazine, one damaged magazine, one dane gun butt, 5 vehicles, 14 mobile phones, 32 motorcycles, one laptop and the sum of N1,123,800.00 amongst other items.”
In the Niger Delta area, he said troops destroyed 15 dugout pits, 25 boats, 74 storage tanks, 14 vehicles, 115 cooking ovens, 13 reservoirs, 10 cooling systems, 10 receivers, 3 pumping machines, 64 illegal refining sites.
“Troops recovered 357,350 litres of stolen crude oil, 185,300 litres of illegally refined AGO and 20,600 litres of PMS.”
He noted that the ongoing operations against terrorists and insecurity across the country is a war in which the military has no choice but to win.
“The armed forces is hunting down prominent terrorist leaders and engaging them wherever they are hiding. These operations are being conducted in accordance with the laws of armed conflict and based on intelligence.
“The ongoing operations are also based on both military necessity and on distinguishing between civilians, noncombatants, and terrorists. The military will continue to take the fight to the terrorists and their cohorts until they are destroyed or surrendered,” he said.