Troops Arrest 96 Criminals, Rescue 89 Hostages In 1 Week-DHQ

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says troops on internal operations arrested 96 criminals and rescued 89 hostages in the past one week.

The director, Defence media operations, Major General Markus Kangye, disclosed this in a statement yesterday.

He said troops within the week recovered stolen products worth N25,045,400.00
In the North East, he said troops arrested 18 terrorists and rescued three hostages within the week.
The troops recovered weapons, ammunitions, logistics items, vehicles, motorcycles and the sum of N191,700.00 while some IEDs were safely detonated in the zone.

According to Kangye, troops arrested a suspected terrorist in Gubio LGA of Borno State who confessed to hiding some arms and ammunition in a location, about which his wife and uncle knew.

“On arrival at the location on 17 August 2025, troops recovered 3 AK-47 rifles, magazines and ammunitions through the guidance of his accomplice,” he said.
Relatedly, in the North West, troops rescued 60 hostages and arrested 25 suspected terrorists/bandits.

Furthermore, in the North Central, he said troops arrested 16 criminals including a wanted notorious criminal identified as Adamu Buba (aka Mai Pankshin) and recovered arms, ammunition and motorcycles.

In the same vein, troops with the region also arrested 13 suspects and rescued five hostages.

Whereas in the South East, troops rescued 20 victims comprising nine pregnant women, seven infants and four children from an orphanage and handed them over to NAPTIP official for further investigation.

Meanwhile in the fight against crude theft, General Kangye said troops arrested 33 suspected oil thieves and recovered stolen products worth N25million.