From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Defence Headquarters ((DHQ) said soldiers on counterterrorism operations in the North East and other internal security operations across the country killed 213 and arrested 216 others in the last one week.
The troops also arrested 67 oil thieves, rescued 26 hostages and recovered several arms and ammunition from the criminals.
Director, Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major General Edward Buba, who made the disclosure, said soldiers in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 150 dugout pits, 30 boats, 73 storage tanks, 209 drums and 15 vehicles. The soldiers also discovered 105 cooking ovens, three pumping machines, two outboard engines, one tricycle, four motorcycles, 45 illegal refining sites, 1,227,470 litres of stolen crude oil, 313,780 litres of illegally refined AGO and 13,000 litres of PMS.
Gen. Buba, at a media briefing on the operations of the armed forces across the country, said troops denied the oil thieves the estimated sum of over N1.5 billion.
He said military operations within the period under review led to the killings of several terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and arrests of others and destruction of several strongholds of the criminals across the country. Buba said the military will continue to decimate the terrorists and deny them the freedom to operate at will.
Giving an update on operations conducted within the last one week Gen. Buba, said “during the week under review, troops neutralised 213 and arrested 216 of them. Troops also arrested 67 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 26 kidnapped hostages. In the South South, troops denied the oil thieves the estimated sum of N1,558,665,080.00 only.
Furthermore, troops recovered 189 assorted weapons and 4,003 assorted ammunition. The breakdown is as follows: 111 AK47 rifles, G3 rifles, 31 locally fabricated guns, five pump action guns, automatic pump action guns, 26 dane guns, four locally made double barrels, two fabricated pistols, RPG bomb and IEDs (Ogbunigwe).
Others are: 2,766 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 982 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 240 live cartridges, two shotgun cartridges, 13 rounds of 9mm ammo, 36 empty cases of 7.62mm ammo, 38 magazines, three G3 magazines, eight vehicles, 44 motorcycles, 19 mobile phones, four bicycles, rifle butt, rifle stock and the sum of N628,000.00, amongst other items.
Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 150 dugout pits, 30 boats, 73 storage tanks, 209 drums and 15 vehicles. Other items recovered include 105 cooking ovens, three pumping machines, two outboard engines, one tricycle, four motorcycles and 45 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 1,227,470 litres of stolen crude oil, 313,780 litres of illegally refined AGO and 13,000 litres of PMS.