Troops Kill 40 Terrorists, Arrest 191, Rescue 80 Hostages

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said troops on internal security killed 40 terrorists, arrested 191 and rescued 80 hostages in one week

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja, said troops also arrested 68 suspected oil thieves and recovered stolen products worth N408,147,460.00.

General Buba said troops recovered 72 assorted weapons and 338 assorted ammunition.

The Director, while giving a breakdown of recovered weapons and ammunitions, said 20 AK47 rifles, six FN rifles, eight pump action guns, four locally fabricated rifles, 19 Dane guns, two 36 hand grenades, 165 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 100 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,085 rounds 7.62mm x 56mm ammo, 5.56mm x 45mm ammo, 84 rounds 12.7mm ammo and 12 live cartridges.

Others are one PKM barrel, one locally made bomb, two RPG chargers, one bandolier, 34 magazines, 10 vehicles, 32 mobile phones, 18 motorcycles, 23 bicycles, six boafeng HH radios and the sum of N895,900.00 amongst other items.

Meanwhile, in the Niger Delta area, he said troops destroyed 23 dugout pits, 30 boats, 99 storage tanks, two motorcycles and 13 vehicles.

Troops recovered; 135 cooking ovens, one speedboat, five pump machines, two motorcycles and 68 illegal refining sites.

Troops also seized 406,500 litres of stolen crude oil, 252,112 litres of illegally refined AGO, 3,158 litres of DPK and 10,800 litres of PMS.

General Buba said troops will continue to go after terrorists and apply military pressure to destroy them and their cohorts across the country.

He said the armed forces within the week conducted synchronised strikes between the ground and air forces on terrorist enclaves and hideouts.
“The goal of ongoing operations is to destroy the terrorist and their cohorts across the country. And, our priority is the protection of the citizens of this country”, he said.