Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said the troops of the armed forces of Nigeria have killed 28 suspected terrorists and arrested 13 in the past two weeks.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Director of Media Operations at the DHQ, Edward Buba disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during a bi-weekly press conference.
Buba noted that troops also arrested 113 suspected insurgents and rescued 82 kidnapped persons during the period.
While giving the breakdown of the figure, he stated that the suspects comprise 92 terrorists, six gunrunners, three kidnappers, six collaborators and seven perpetrators of oil theft.
Buba said the troops also recovered 22 AK47 rifles, one PKT gun, six pump action guns, four dane guns, one fabricated rifle, one Galil ace rifle, one RGP bomb, one RPG tube and 44 hand grenades.
NAN quoted Buba as saying, “Also recovered are 322 rounds of 7.62mm special, 63 rounds of 12.7mm ammo, 12 rounds of 5.6mm ammo, 33 AK47 magazines, one empty case of 7.62mm special and three empty magazines.
“Other items include 14 motorcycles, 16 mobile phones, three Motorolla radio, one Boafeng radio, two motorcycle tyres, five torch lights, two solar panels, 104 livestock and the sum of N2.8 million.”
The Defence Spokesperson added that the troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 36 dugout pits, 62 wooden boats, 73 storage tanks, one vehicle and 75 cooking ovens during the period.
Buba said the troops also impounded four pumping machines, five outboard engines and 33 illegal refining sites, as well as recovered 1,166,900 litres of stolen crude oil, 1,491,250 litres of illegally refined automated gas oil (AGO), 54,750 litres of dual-purpose kerosene (DPK) and 800 litres of premium motor spirit (PMS).
According to him, in the north-east, the troops of operation Hadin Kai eliminated seven terrorists, arrested five and rescued 31 hostages while 28 family members of the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists comprising nine adult females and 19 children were also rescued and taken into custody.
Buba said the troops recovered 20 AK47 rifles, one FN rifle, one Galileo rifle, three dane guns, one AK47 rifle loaded with 17 rounds of 7.62mm special, 154 rounds of 7.62mm special, 63 rounds of 12.7mm ammo, among others.
