The military says on Thursday that armed Yoruba Nation agitators in military uniform who invaded Oyo State Secretariat , Ibadan on April 13 are lucky that soldiers were not the first to arrive at the scenes,they all would have been killed.
Major General Edward Buba , Director Defence Media Operations said the armed Yoruba Nation agitators in military uniform are combatants and in circumstances of war that the country is passing through no troops will spare them.
Buba who gave the warning in Abuja during the biweekly press briefing on military operations across the country said the acts of terrorism , illegal mining, kidnapping, armed agitations by Indigenous People of Biafra and Yoruba Nation are all self inflicted on Nigerian nation.
According to him, the acts of terrorism in the North East, illegal mining and kidnapping enterprise in the North West and North Central are being perpetrated under the guise of terrorism.
“The agitation of IPOB in the South East have proven to be for self aggrandisement. Then, the call for a Yoruba Nation which is laughable. All these buttress how our security situation is self inflicted in the country.”
“These acts are against the Constitution of the Federal Republic Nigeria 1999,as amended and therefore unacceptable for persons or groups to take up arms against a constituted government.”
He said the prerequisite of ongoing counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations by the military across the country is defeating the terrorist and dismantling their military, administrative and political capabilities.
According to him, “through our operations we are continually boxing in the terrorist and dismantling their supply routes.The military is working decisively to kill the terrorist, dismantle their networks and create conditions whereby they cannot carry out acts of terror or harm citizens, ” he said.
He said that the terrorist and economic saboteurs are feeling the heat of military airstrikes that have continues to hunt the terrorist leadership. Surprisingly, their sympathisers and cohorts are plotting to blackmail the military as a result of these air strikes.
The Director explained that as professional force, Nigerian military before any airstrike is authorised”due diligence by way of Intelligence, Surveillance and Recognizance is painstakingly taken to distinguish the terrorist”.
Major General Buba said that
during the period under review, troops neutralised 192 terrorists, arrested 341 persons and rescued 62 kidnapped hostages.
A total of 122 ISWAP/JAS combatant terrorist surrendered with their family members. Troops also arrested 37 perpetrators of oil theft. In the South South zone of the country and denied oil theft of the estimated sum of Eight Hundred and Twenty One Million Two Hundred and Forty Eight Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty Naira (N821,248,740.00) only.
Furthermore, troops recovered 211 assorted weapons and 6,288 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: 128 AK47 rifles, 26 dane guns among other items. Others are: 1,301 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 3,260 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,325 live cartridges, 140 round of 9mm ammo among other items.
Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 99 dugout pits, 36 storage tanks and 192 cooking ovens. During the process the troops recovered 349,970 litres of stolen crude oil, 112,135 litres of illegally refined AGO, 7,560 litres of DPK and 13,000 litres of PMS.
The military recognises that there is still a challenging and tough war campaign still ahead . Overall, our objective is to defeat the terrorist and their cohorts by denying them the ability to continue to fight.
The Director called on citizens to maximum support for the military operations adding that “lifeline of these terrorist groups is the people. Winning the war without the support of the people is close to impossible.”
He said that It is for this reason, “we encourage the civil populace and civil societies to galvanise support in a whole of society approach to facilitate the total defeat of these terrorist. The time is now for citizens to know that they have a responsible to the nation.”