…Neutralised 80 terrorists, arrest 304
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Thursday said it would review its operational protocols and procedures in order to avoid civilian casualties similar to the Tudun Biri community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna state where it incidentally killed 80 civilians and injured over 70 in drone strikes.
The military high command assured Nigerians that it would continue to conduct its operations in line with internal laws and rules of engagements.
Director Defence Media Operations Major General Edward Buba stated this while answering questions from journalists during a press briefing at DHQ in Abuja.
“We will continue to conduct our operations consistent with international laws which we have always done, we will continue to conduct our operations consistent with rules of engagements which we have always done. As for the incident that happened, I can assure that the military learns from its experiences and we will continue to make improvements as we go along.
“It is an incident that has happened and as I mentioned in my brief, we are determined to deal with it squarely. There would be a need for protocols, there would be a need for processes to be improved upon. And these I assure would be put in place to ensure that in the future we have near zero occurrences.
“As for what we are going to do to prevent reoccurrence in the future, I can I assure we will make sure that we get more training, more understanding of the processes and the protocols involved to make sure that when something is seen, before an order is given to bomb it, it will be definitely 100 percent sure. But for now, we have encouraged communities to see something and say something. Tell us what you are seeing and it will help us to analyze the threats,” he said.
General Buba said the armed forces is very concerned about the issues of civilian casualties in operations, a situation that the military views as tragic and unwanted.
“The military is determined to deal with the situation properly and make improvements from our experiences.
“The military will continue to take great measures to prevent civilian casualties. Protecting civilians remains a vital part of our operations in order to promote greater security for all Nigerians.”
On allegations of ethnic cleansing leveled against the military that its carried out the bombing to reduce population of the North, General Buba said:”The Nigerian military is very professional and has personnel from different parts of the country. Whatever group is coming out and saying whatever calculations that they have imagined in their minds, we can tell you that it is faulty, it is in error and it is unpatriotic.
“At this time when we are in a war, it is not just the military that is at war, the whole country is at war. “
Earlier during his briefing, the defence spokesperson said troops deployed to different theatres of operations across the country neutralised 80 terrorists, while 304 of them were arrested in the last one week.
Speaking further, he said troops also arrested 152 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 44 kidnapped hostages.
“In the South South, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Three Hundred and Forty Six Million One Hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand Five Hundred Naira (N347,173,500.00) only,” he said.
He disclosed that troops recovered 112 assorted weapons and 898 assorted ammunition.
According to him, the breakdown are as follows: “2 GPMG, one HK21 gun, 14 AK47 rifles, 8 pump action guns, 4 locally fabricated rifles, 8 locally made pistols, 5 dane guns, 239 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 431 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 4 rounds of 9mm ammo, 52 live cartridges.
“ Others are: 5 magazines loaded with 128 rounds of 7.62mm special, 6 vehicles, 28 mobile phones, 12 motorcycles, one laptop and sum of N782,790.00 amongst other items.”
