… As nationwide hunt for terrorists leaders intensify
The Defence Headquarters said on Friday that troops have been put on high alert to protect the country from further terrorist aggression, particularly during the yuletide.
Just as troops during this week neutralised a total of 212 terrorists in several encounters and arrested 272 others.
Director of Defence Media Operations Major General Edward Buba disclosed this in a statement in Abuja. He said that high profile terrorists identified as Hamisu Sale (aka Master) and Abubakar Muhammad arrested during the week are cooperating and providing valuable intelligence on the terror network
Significantly, the duo were arrested during separate operations conducted in North Central theatre of operation.
“Accordingly, robust operations targeted at terrorist leadership are being conducted across the various theatres of operations.”
He said that during the week under review, troops neutralised 212 terrorists in encounters and arrested 272 others.
Similarly, troops in the North West theatre of operation, arrested another high profile and notorious terrorist identified as Bako Wurgi. The arrested terror leader is linked to the murder of the Sokoto Monarch and a staunch ally of wanted high profile terrorist Bello Turji’s.
The arrested terrorist leader, Bako Wurgi, eventually succumbed to gun shot injuries sustained during the fire fight. He nevertheless provided valuable intelligence to support troops operations before he died.
“Meanwhile, during the week under review, troops neutralised 212 and arrested 272 persons. Troops also arrested 45 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 152 kidnapped hostages. In the SS, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of One Billion One Hundred and Ninty Three Million Eight Hundred and Seventy Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Naira (N1,193,817,760.00) only.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 247 assorted weapons and 6,174 assorted ammunition. The breakdown are as follows: 2 RPG UXO4, 110 AK47 rifles, 56 fabricated rifles, 36 dane guns, 2 FN rifles, 2 baretta pistols, 15 locally made pistols, 2 revolver pistols, 12 pump action guns, 2 double barrel guns, one single barrel gun, one RPG bomb, one RPG tube, 2 exploded RPG chargers, one PKM link, one link of GPMG and 70 AK47 magazines.
“Others are: 3,235 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,583 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 130 rounds of 7.62 x 51mm ammo, 400 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 92 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm ammo, 107 rounds of 9mm ammo, 311 live cartridges, one FN magazine, 3 bandoliers, 5 baofeng radios, 8 vehicles, 51 motorcycles and 103 mobile phones amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 35 crude oil cooking ovens, 27 dugout pits, 35 boats, 51 storage tanks and 61 illegal refining sites. Other items recovered include 5 speedboats, 5 receivers, 59 drums, 3 motorcycles, 3 mobile phones and 8 vehicles among others. Troops recovered 940,372 litres of stolen crude oil, 252,000 litres of illegally refined AGO and 132 litres of PMS.”
He added that , overall, troops are bent on achieving sustainable peace in the nation by ensuring that the terrorist are held accountable for any act of aggression against citizens. Citizens are therefore urged to “See Something, Say Something“.