94 terrorists killed, 43 oil thieves arrested – DHQ

The Defence Headquarters in Abuja said on Thursday that no fewer than 94 terrorists were killed by troops in various operations conducted across the northern part of the country between  January 17 and 25.

It said the operations led to the arrest of 171 terrorists in the North as well as 43 suspected oil thieves and the recovery of  N485m worth of crude oil in the South-South.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday, while briefing journalists on the activities of troops within the period under review.

He said,  “During the week under review, troops neutralised 94 and arrested 171 of them. Troops also arrested 43 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 29 kidnapped hostages. In the South-South, troops denied oil thieves crude oil valued at N485,983,150.”

He said troops recovered 168 assorted weapons and 2,757 assorted ammunition during the various operations.

“The breakdown is as follows: one GPMG, 85 AK-47 rifles, one Vektor R4 rifle, one G3 rifle, 10 pump-action guns, 12 locally-fabricated guns, six locally-made pistols, 21 Dane guns, one double-barrel gun, one fabricated revolver rifle, 2 x 36 hand grenades, and one fabricated dane gun,” DHQ spokesman said.

In the South-South operations, Buba said troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 16 dugout pits, 51 boats, 49 storage tanks, and three vehicles.

“Other items recovered included 38 cooking ovens, three pumping machines, and 31 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 363,875 litres of stolen crude oil, 198,315 litres of illegally refined AGO, and 5,200 litres of PMS, “ he added.