By Emmanuel Obisue
Nigerian Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has affirmed that troops’ operations has severely depleted the ranks and files of ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists in the northern region of the country.
This declaration was made at the weekend by Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, adding that the terrorists have now been forced into a desperate recruitment drive on social media. “Troops will sustain the offensives to eliminate all threats,” Buba declared.
The DHQ said synchronized air strikes by the air force as well as ground operations by ground forces has dislodged terrorist from their enclaves killing several of them. “For instance, on 6 Nov 24, the air component of Operation HADIN KAI, conducted targeted air strikes on terrorists located at KWALLARAM and ARAINNA CIKI islands in Borno State. The strikes resulted in the neutralisation of over 70 extremist members at KWALLARAM, with several more killed at ARAINNA CIKI”.
Buba added that during the week under review, troops neutralised 169 terrorists and arrested 641 others, arrested 40 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 181 kidnapped hostages. “In the SS, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of One Billion Four Hundred and Two Million Nine Hundred and One Thousand Nine Hundred Naira (N1,402,001,900.00) only”.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 192 assorted weapons and 2,970 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: 106 AK47 rifles, 38 fabricated rifles, 26 dane guns, one FN rifle, 3 fabricated revolver pistol, 11 locally made pistols, 5 pump action guns, ome dummy AK47 rifle, one unexploded RPG bomb.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 20 crude oil cooking ovens, 2 dugout pits, 42 boats, 7 reservoirs, 5 drums, 50 storage tanks and 83 illegal refining sites. Other items recovered include 3 pumping machines, 3 outboard engines, one generator set, one speedboat, 8 motorcycles, 3 mobile phones and 3 vehicles among others. Troops recovered 914,445 litres of stolen crude oil, 537,325 litres of illegally refined AGO and 1,285 litres of PMS,” the DHQ stated.