Troops Kill 177 Terrorists, Arrest 263, Rescue 158 Hostages

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says troops on internal operations killed 177 terrorists, arrested 263 others and rescued 158 hostages in the past one week.

The director, defence media operations, Major General Edward Buba in a statement yesterday said troops also arrested 41 suspected oil thieves and recovered stolen crude worth over N501 million.

He added that the troops recovered 170 assorted weapons and 4,692 assorted ammunition within the period under review.

He gave a breakdown recovered weapons as follows: six PKT guns, 63 AK47 rifles, three FN rifles, one SMG rifle, 29 locally fabricated gun, 37 dane guns, 20 pump action guns, one short double barrel gun, two double barrel guns, two single barrel guns, one locally made single barrel, six locally fabricated pistols, four bandoliers, RPG bombs, RPG charger, two primed IEDs and materials.

Other items recovered include: 2,100 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,239 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 419 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 212 rounds of 5.56 x 54mm ammo, 722 live cartridges, 13 empty cases of 7.62mm ammo, 74 AK47 magazines, two FN magazines, six baofeng radios, 17 vehicles, 43 motorcycles, 31 mobile phones and the sum of N2,149,700.00 only amongst other items.

In the Niger Delta, General Buba said troops discovered and destroyed 49 illegal refining sites, 20 dug-out pits, 32 boats and 32 storage tanks.

He said the troops also recovered; 58 cooking ovens, 17 vehicles, one pumping machine, 5 mobile phones, 1,007,115 litres of stolen crude oil and 141,664 litres of illegally refined AGO.