Troops Arrest 1,191 Terrorists, Rescue 543 Hostages In 3 Months – DHQ

Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday said troops on internal operations arrested 1,191 terrorists, including kingpins, and rescued 543 hostages.

The director of defence media operations, Major General Markus Kangye, briefing journalists on military operations in the second quarter of 2025, said 682 terrorists and their families surrendered.

He said troops within the period from April to June eliminated several terrorist leaders such as Amir Abu Fatimah, Kinging Auta, Abdul Jamilu, Salisu, Mallam Jidda, and Maiwada.

“Our troops killed several terrorists’ kingpins and their foot soldiers, arrested over 1,191 of them and rescued 543 kidnapped victims. During the Quarter, about 682 terrorists and their families surrendered to troops.

“Among the terrorists eliminated were the dreaded Amir Abu Fatimah, kinging Auta, Abdul Jamilu, Salisu, Mallam Jidda, Maiwada, Mai Dada, and Nwachi Eze, otherwise known as Onowu.

“Just 2 days ago, bandit kingpin Yellow Danbokkolo succumbed to injuries sustained during an encounter with troops the previous week, where many of his lieutenants were also eliminated.”

He added that some notorious gunrunners and kidnappers on the troops’ watch list were arrested and taken into custody for interrogation.

According to him, the following suspects were being interrogated: “Buhari Umar, Hassan Mohammed, Saleh Sani, Adamu Dan Mai, Idi Yusuf, Hassan Bello, Muhammed Isah, Shimu Ilu Adamu, Ismaila Ilu Hassan, Michael and Shittu Muazu Bakassi.”

Meanwhile, in the fight against economic saboteurs, troops of Operation DELTA SAFE recovered stolen products worth N3,500,435,234.00.

The director said troops also recovered 2,381,239 litres of stolen crude oil, 605,393 litres of illegally refined AGO, 41,465 litres of DPK and 26,905 litres of PMS.

The troops also discovered and destroyed about 174 illegal refining sites, while 45 vehicles were seized from them.

Other items recovered include: some automatic weapons, RPG tubes, machine guns, locally fabricated guns, and improvised explosive devices, which the terrorists prepared and were ready for detonation.

Also, some cache of assorted ammunition was recovered from the sites.