…Just as air strikes killed 70 others in KWALLARAM and ARAINNA CIKI islands in Borno State
Intense synchronized air strikes by the air force as well as ground operations by ground forces have dislodged terrorist from their enclaves killing several of them last week, the Defence Headquarters has said.
Major General Edward Buba the Director Defence Media Operations stated in a statement that the strikes included those conducted by air component of Operation HADIN KAI, on terrorists located at KWALLARAM and ARAINNA CIKI islands in Borno State.
“The strikes resulted in the neutralisation of over 70 extremist members at KWALLARAM, with several more killed at ARAINNA CIKI.”
Besides the air strikes, troops neutralised 169 terrorists and arrested 641 others during the week under review that ended on November 9th, 2024.
The Defence Headquarters further disclosed that troops also arrested 40 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 181 kidnapped hostages. In the South South, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of One Billion Four Hundred and Two Million Nine Hundred and One Thousand Nine Hundred Naira (N1,402,001,900.00) only.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 192 assorted weapons and 2,970 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: 106 AK47 rifles, 38 fabricated rifles, 26 dane guns, one FN rifle, 3 fabricated revolver pistol, 11 locally made pistols, 5 pump action guns, ome dummy AK47 rifle, one unexploded RPG bomb, 2
“Others are: 1,410 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,074 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 67 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 130 rounds of 108mm, 101 rounds of 9mm ammo, 146 live cartridges, 2 baofeng radios, 7 vehicles, 29 motorcycles, 40 mobile phones and the sum of N729,000.00 only amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 20 crude oil cooking ovens, 2 dugout pits, 42 boats, 7 reservoirs, 5 drums, 50 storage tanks and 83 illegal refining sites.
“Other items recovered include 3 pumping machines, 3 outboard engines, one generator set, one speedboat, 8 motorcycles, 3 mobile phones and 3 vehicles among others. Troops recovered 914,445 litres of stolen crude oil, 537,325 litres of illegally refined AGO and 1,285 litres of PMS.
“On the whole, troops operations has severely depleted the ranks and files. Consequently the terrorist are forced into a desperate recruitment drive on social media, particularly the ISWAP terrorist group. Troops will sustain the offensives to eliminate all threats,” he added.