Nigerian Army neutralizes 113 terrorists, arrests 300, rescues 91 hostages
By Matthew Atungwu
Troops of the Nigerian Army have neutralized 113 terrorists, arrested 300 terrorists and rescued 91 kidnap victims in one week.
The director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja.
Buba said the troops arrested 25 suspected oil thieves, destroyed 49 illegal refining sites and seized stolen products worth N571,793,350.00 only.
He said the troops recovered 129 assorted weapons and 717 assorted ammunitions.
Gen Buba said the armed forces will continue to exert military pressure on groups that seek to derail progress towards peace and security in the country.
He gave a breakdown of recovered items to include; one unserviceable AA gun, one RPG tube, five RPG bombs, one GT3 rifle, 54 AK47 rifles, eight locally fabricated rifles, one locally made rifle, two pistols, two pump action guns, two dane guns, four locally fabricated pistol, three skeleton of AK47 rifles, nine hand grenades, one unserviceable AK47 rifle, 14 magazines, 321 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 40 live cartridges.
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Others are 53 rounds of 5.45mm x 39mm ammo, 35 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 100 rounds of shotgun, 11 rifle bodies, seven breech blocks, seven rifle butts, eight rifle muzzles, nine piston assemblies, 210 springs, one drilling machine, hand filling machines, 10 magazine purges, IED making materials, four Baofeng radios, 15 motorcycles, 20 mobile phones and the sum of N348,200 amongst other items.
Meanwhile, troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 76 dugout pits, 35 boats, 95 storage tanks, 10 vehicles, 129 cooking ovens, five pumping machines, 13 speedboats, six outboard engines, one vessel, three motorcycles and 49 illegal refining sites.
He added that troops recovered 514,640 litres of stolen crude oil, 339,315 litres of illegally refined AGO and 775 litres of DPK.
He reiterated that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is a disciplined and well-trained force that conducts its operation within the ambit of laws governing human rights and that of armed conflict.