DHQ: Military’ll continue to pursue aggressive operations against extremist groups

…Troops kill 39 terrorists

Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, the Director, Defence Media Operations, has said, “The military will continue to pursue aggressive military operations against violent extremist groups seeking to undermine the security of the country and conduct violence against the people”.

Buba who spoke on Thursday while briefing news men in Abuja on the successes of the troops in various theatres of operations across the country, disclosed that 39 terrorists met their deaths within the period of two weeks.

Under the same period the troops rescued 109 hostages in different locations.

Troops of the Operation Hadin Kai were said to have ambushed some terrorists and eliminated 39 among them while 159 members of the gang were apprehended.

Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, vows that the troops  would continue to deny saboteurs freedom to destabilise the country.

Buba said the troops also denied oil thieves of the sum of N765.8 million and recovered 55 assorted weapons and 96 assorted ammunition during the period.

He noted that the troops discovered and destroyed 71 dugout pits, 36 boats, 83 storage tanks, five vehicles, four motorcycles, 58 cooking ovens, five pumping machines, three generators and three speedboats.

“Also, troops recovered 569,400 litres of stolen crude oil, 486,000 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) also known as diesel and 59,500 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Buba told newsmen that the air component of the military operations conducted an interdiction of terrorists at Sububu Forest in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State and degraded terrorists at the location.

He said troops of Operation Hadin Kai operating in the North East of the country after the ambush, also arrested high profile Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in Gwoza and Tarmuwa Local Government Areas of Borno and Yobe, respectively.

According to him, the offensive led to the surrender by some terrorists at Gwoza area of Borno and resulted in the elimination of some others; the rescue of hostages and the recovery of arms and ammunition.

He explained that in another operation, troops neutralised 11 terrorists, arrested 45 others and rescued 34 hostages within the period and recovered large cache of arms and ammunition.

The defence spokesman said troops recovered six AK47 rifles, one HK21 gun, one GPMG, one fabricated gun, 11 AK47 magazines and 34 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.

“They also recovered 17 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, one bandolier, and seven empty cases of 7.62mm special, five motorcycles, eight mobile phones and N368, 950”, he said.

Buba said the air component of the operations acquired and engaged terrorists’ enclaves at Wulde in Borno, adding that the outcome was being monitored.

He said that in the North Central, troops of Operation Safe Haven neutralised two gunmen, rescued three hostages and arrested 15 crime suspects during the period.

In the same vein, another set of troops attached to Operation Delta Safe in the last two weeks have intensified efforts to clamp down on suspected oil thieves in the Niger Delta region where 16 members of a syndicate were arrested while 34 illegal refining sites were discovered and destroyed.

According the spokesman, ‘the armed forces remains focused on its core mission and will continually make adjustments along the way to better protect citizens, while isolating and annihilating those groups constituting a security nuisance to the country”.