340 Surrender As Troops Kill 77 Terrorists, Arrest 41 Suspects

 The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said its troops operating in the North-East, North-West and North-Central parts of the country, have killed 77 terrorists, arrested 41 of them including collaborators and rescued 59 civilians in two-week operations.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami, who stated this on Thursday at the biweekly update on the Armed Forces of Nigeria operations between January 26 to February 9, 2023, said 340 terrorists surrendered to troops in the North-East.

He said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai operating in the North-East neutralised 56 terrorists, arrested 17 terrorists and nine Boko terrorist logistics suppliers, rescued 59 civilians while a total of 340 terrorists and members of their families, comprising 12 adult males, 133 adult females and 195 children, who surrendered to troops at different locations of the North-East theatre of operation.

He said the troops equally recovered two GPMG, one AK47, 13 dane guns, three AK47 magazines, one bandolier, 316 rounds of 7.62mm, 54mm PKT ammunition, 37 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, one 36 hand grenade, 77 rounds of belted 7.62mm NATO ammo, one belted 18 x 7.62mm x51mm ball ammo, 19 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammo, two jack knives, 11 bicycles, one vehicle, one motorcycle, 20 wraps of cannabis, and the sum of N77,260 as well as a vehicle loaded with food items and other sundry items.

Furthermore, he said troops of Operation Hadarin Daji operating in the North-West neutralised 16 terrorists and arrested seven suspects in the period under review.

The troops recovered 12 AK47 rifles, 16 locally made pistols, one FN rifle, 48 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 12 rounds of 9mm ammo, 11 cartridges, eight empty cases of 7.62mm special ammo, 27 AK 47 magazines, 10 motorcycles, 10 mobile phones, one Boafeng radio, one vehicle, three MTN SIM cards, one NIN card, one driver’s license, receipt of cash transfer, 66 cows, 18 sheep and assorted charms.

In the North-Central, he said the troops neutralised five terrorists, arrested 10 terrorists and one gunrunner while  36 cows, 10 motorcycles, three mobile phones, two knives and eight empty cases of 7.62mm special ammunition were recovered by troops in the same period under review.