In continuation of its counter-insurgency campaign against terrorist and their cohorts operating across the country, the troops of the Nigerian Armed Forces neutralized 109 terrorists and arrested 81 others in the first week of year 2025.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba who disclosed this in a press statement on Friday in Abuja also said troops arrested 6 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 43 kidnapped hostages.
He said in a statement that In the South South Zone of Nigeria troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Six Hundred and Eighteen Million Seven Hundred and Fifty-Six Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy Naira (N618,756,470.00) only worth of crude oil.
“Troops recovered a total of 21 assorted weapons and 124 assorted ammunition from terrorists during encounters at various theatres.”
He gave the breakdown of weapons, ammunition and items to recovered as follows: 9 AK47 rifles, 5 fabricated rifles, 4 dane guns, 3 locally made pistols, 7 magazines, 97 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 22 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 5 live cartridges, 3 baofeng radios, 4 vehicles, 6 motorcycles and 4 mobile phones amongst other items.
Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 10 crude oil cooking ovens, 10 dugout pits, 12 boats, 4 storage tanks and 10 illegal refining sites, he said.
Other items recovered from Niger Delta area include 3 pumping machines, 12 speedboats, 20 drums, 2 motorcycles, one mobile phone and 4 vehicles among others.
Troops also recovered 631,709 litres of stolen crude oil, 3,140 litres of illegally refined automated Gas Oil, AGO, and 2,250 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit, PMS,.
Major General Buba said that troops are sustaining the winning strokes in the ongoing operational engagements. Accordingly, he assured, “citizens will continue to witness the incremental effectiveness and efficiency of the armed forces.”