From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday announced that troops engaged in counter-insurgency and other internal security operations across the country killed 156 terrorists and arrested 464 others.
The troops also arrested 29 suspected oil thieves, recovered stolen products worth over N600 million, and rescued 181 kidnapped hostages.
The outgoing director of defence media operations, Major General Edward Buba, disclosed this during a media briefing on military operations conducted nationwide over the past week.
Buba stated that during the period under review, troops recovered 219 assorted weapons and 2,871 rounds of assorted ammunition.
He listed the recovered weapons to include one GPMG, 68 AK47 rifles, one AK56 rifle, 12 fabricated rifles, four FN rifles, four dane guns, seven pump-action guns, one foreign double-barrel gun, nine fabricated IEDs, 18 FN grenades, six RPG bombs, 27 magazines, four IEDs, and related materials.
Additional items recovered include 1,618 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 676 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 16 rounds of 7.62 x 51mm ammunition, 68 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammunition, 317 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm ammunition, 73 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition, 175 rounds of PKT ammunition, one box of 12.7mm ammunition, 25 live cartridges, one Baofeng radio, 10 vehicles, 42 motorcycles, 29 mobile phones, among other items.
On military operations against oil theft in the Niger Delta, Buba stated, “Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 46 illegal refining sites, 48 crude oil cooking ovens, 10 dugout pits, and 56 storage tanks.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 705,294 litres of stolen crude oil, 6,865 litres of illegally refined AGO, 1,500 litres of DPK, and 800 litres of PMS.
Other items recovered in the area include 28 boats, eight pumping machines, six speedboats, three outboard engines, six drums, eight motorcycles, one mobile phone, and eight vehicles.”