Troops Arrest 147 Suspects, Rescue 39 Hostages In 1 Week — DHQ

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said that troops on internal operations arrested 147 suspected terrorists and other criminals in one week.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, who disclosed this while briefing journalists on Thursday, said troops rescued 39 kidnapped hostages and foiled oil theft worth N19,750,000.00

Giving breakdown, he said troops in the North-East arrested 26 terrorists’ collaborators, informants and sympathisers and rescued three hostages between September 15-22, 2025.

Logistics items recovered included large quantity of fabrics, vehicles, motorcycles and IED-making materials, adding that recovered items were in troops’ custody, while interrogation was ongoing.

Also, in the North-West, he said troops arrested nine terrorists including a notorious terrorist identified as Mallam Abubakar Ahmadu, who was apprehended in Paiko LGA of Niger State.

Relatedly, in the North-Central, he said troops rescued 16 kidnap victims and arrested 71 suspected terrorists/kidnappers.
Among those arrested was a kidnap kingpin identified as Saawuan Wuaiyolna, a member of a notorious syndicate who was on the wanted list.

Meanwhile, in the South-South, troops discovered and destroyed 16 illegal refining sites, 14 crude oil cooking ovens, seven dugout pits, 11 boats and eight storage tanks.

According to Kangye, the troops also arrested 19 suspected oil thieves and nine other criminals.

He added that, in the South-East, troops arrested six suspected terrorists and rescued three hostages fro, captivity.