The Defence Headquarters says troops neutralised no fewer than 2,352 terrorists, apprehended 2,308 and rescued 1,241 kidnapped hostages between January and March.
“These hostages were handed over to the Sokoto State government.”
“The standard practice was for troops to be notified prior to any movement of IDPs beyond the permissible distance of five to seven kilometres from their camp,” said the DHQ.
Mr Buba said the troops destroyed about 50 tents, the terrorist’s supreme headquarters, command and control centre, and their military council headquarters.
The DHQ said its operations resulted in the killing of 86 terrorists and the arrest of 101 suspects.
In the South-East, the DHQ said soldiers arrested 78 suspected IPOB/ESN criminals and rescued five kidnap victims.
The report from Defence Headquarters clashed with a previous claim of an army general, who blamed the strikes that killed over 126 villagers on a precision error by combat drones.
![Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-General Taoreed Lagbaja [Photo Shettima]](https://gazettengr.com/wp-content/uploads/Chief-of-Army-Staff-COAS-Lt-General-Taoreed-Lagbaja-Photo-Shettima.png)
The troops also rescued 49 hostages over the past week.
At least 36 military officers were reportedly killed in an ambush in Niger by a yet-to-be-identified terrorist group that shot down a Nigerian Air Force surveillance helicopter.
