Troops Kill 8,034 Terrorists, Arrest 11,623, Rescue 6,376 Hostages In 1 Year — DHQ

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has disclosed that troops on internal operations in the five theatres across the country neutralised a total of 8,034 terrorists, arrested 11,623 others while 6,376 hostages were rescued between January and December 2024.

Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba who gave the figures at the biweekly update on military operations said troops also recovered 8,216 weapons, 211,459 ammunitions and stolen crude oil worth N57,052,218,551.00 within the period.

Buba gave the breakdown of the recovered items to include 4,053 AK47 rifles, 1,123 locally fabricated guns, 731 dane guns and 240 pump action guns.

Others are 120,247 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 41,515 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 5,373 cartridges, 1,940 assorted arms and 25,664 assorted ammunitions.

In the fight against oil theft, troops within the period under review recovered 53,101,430 litres of stolen crude oil, 9,179,181 litres of illegally refined AGO, 90,595 litres of DPK and 156,095 litres of PMS amongst other items.

General Buba assured that the military was keeping up the pressure through ongoing operations in the various theatres across the country.

“The military is through these operations, increasingly creating conditions in which terrorist cannot carry out acts of terror or harm citizens.

“On the whole, the armed forces is constantly examining ways to improve the effectiveness of its operations and guarantee the safety of citizens,” he said.

He added that military operations are on an upward trajectory to winning the war.