Troops Arrest 107 Suspects, Rescue 20 Victims In 1 Week — DHQ

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has revealed that the troops on internal operations arrested 107 suspected terrorists, kidnappers, oil thieves and other suspected criminals across the country.

Director Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Markus Kangye who revealed this on Thursday also said 20 kidnap hostages were also rescued by the troops between 7 and 14 August, 2025.

Maj.-Gen. Kangye revealed these while giving updates on military operations across the theatres within the period under review.

In the North-East, he said troops during clearance operations, eliminated several terrorists, destroyed their logistics bases, recovered weapons, dismantled terrorists’ networks and provided safe space for resettlement of displaced persons.

According to Kangye, troops arrested 37 suspected terrorists, rescued five hostages and recovered weapons, ammunitions, logistics items, vehicles and motorcycles while some Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were safely detonated in the region.

Giving account of the North-West, Kangye said troops arrested 11 suspected terrorists and rescued 17 hostages in various operations.

Relatedly in the North-Central, the director revealed that troops arrested 15 suspects and rescued nine hostages with the recovery of sundry items.

In the South-East, troops arrested six suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its Eastern Security Network (ESN) and recovered weapons.

Meanwhile, in the South-South geopolitical zone, troops arrested 34 suspected oil thieves, cultists and other suspected criminals.

According to Kangye, troops destroyed three illegal refining sites and recovered stolen products worth N37,518,630.00.

Items recovered include 24,575 litres of stolen crude oil, 9,140 litres of illegally refined AGO, 2,650 litres of PMS while trooped also destroyed two crude oil cooking ovens, nine dugout pits, four boats, and three storage tanks.