By Gbemiga Olamikan.
The Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba has disclosed that troops neutralised 253 terrorists and arrested 172 persons with 15 perpetrators of oil theft arrested while 206 kidnapped hostage rescued. He disclosed that troops denied oil theft in the south-south of the estimated sum of One Billion Seventy Three Million Eight Hundred and Twenty Nine Thousand Five Hundred Naira (N1,073,829,500.00) only.
Major General Buba disclosed this in a statement signed today. He said troops recovered 251 assorted weapons and 4,113 assorted ammunition. He stated the breakdown as follows: one GPMG, 118 AK47 rifles, 54 locally fabricated gun, 47 dane guns, 6 pump action guns, 2 locally fabricated pump action guns, 5 double barrel guns, 4 single barrel guns, 4 locally fabricated pistol, 4 IED, 60mm mortar tube, 2 AK butts, MRAP and one bandolier.
Aslo recovered were 2,047 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 942 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 98 rounds of 9mm ammo, 342 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 334 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm, 252 rounds of 7.62 x 51mm, 110 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ball, 299 live cartridges, 32 magazines, 2 baofeng radios, 2 KYD radios, 8 vehicles, 41 motorcycles, 27 bicycles, 41 mobile phones and the sum of N74,702,320.00 only amongst other items.
General Buba revealed that troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 22 dugout pits, 37 boats, 70 drums, 4 receiver, 4 reservoirs and 29 storage tanks.
Other items recovered include 215 cooking ovens, 13 vehicles, 4 wheelbarrows, one tricycle, one motorcycle, 5 mobile phones, one speedboat, 2 KYD radios, 2 outboard engines and 75 illegal refining sites. He said troops recovered 1,047,050 litres of stolen crude oil and 205,550 litres of illegally refined AGO.
General Buba calls on Nigerians to extend utmost respect for their armed forces, rather than degraded the institution, he said it would be counterproductive and amounts to self sabotage to do otherwise. He said operations across the country are testament of the tireless effort of the military to prevent anarchy, unrest and national security destabilization.
He said for these reasons, the armed forces is deserving of the pride of place as the nations symbol of national unity and resilience.
