The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), on Friday, said that troops eliminated 159 terrorists and apprehended 174 others in the last one week.

The director of defence media operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, made this known in an update on the operations of the armed forces in Abuja.

Mr Buba said the troops also rescued 188 kidnapped hostages and apprehended 45 perpetrators of oil theft, and recovered 151 assorted weapons and 12,401 assorted ammunition within the period.

He said that the armed forces had taken resolute steps towards ending terrorism and insecurity in the country through ongoing operations.

According to him, the operations are yielding the desired results as troops dismantle terrorist networks and decimate their leadership and combatants, with several of the terrorist leaders and commanders eliminated from the battlefield.

“Furthermore, troops are strategically deployed to ensure that the off-cycle governorship election scheduled for Sept. 21 in Edo is violence-free, fair and credible.

“Troops’ role is to support the police to ensure voters’ safety and security to thwart the activities of those elements bent on fomenting crisis during the elections.

“Our operations against the terrorist and violent extremists remain aimed at providing security and stability for the nation and citizens.

“Troops will, therefore, continue to be relentless in pursuit of ending all forms of insecurity across the country,” he said.

In the North-East, Mr Buba said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai neutralised 46 terrorists, apprehended 41 suspects and rescued 48 kidnapped hostages, as well as recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition.

He said that a total of 76 terrorists, comprising nine adult males, 28 adult females and 39 children, surrendered to troops within the theatre between Sept. 11 and Sept. 17 September.

He added that the air component of Operation Hadin Kai conducted air interdiction on suspected ISWAP/JAS terrorist enclave in Southern Tumbun of Borno, neutralising several terrorists and destroying their logistics.

In the North Central, Mr Buba said the troops of Operations Safe Haven and Whirl Stroke neutralised 15 violent extremists, arrested 18 violent extremists and rescued 64 kidnapped hostages with the recovery of several caches of arms.

In the North-West, he said the troops of Operation Hadarin Daji, neutralised 73 terrorists, nabbed 23 terrorists and rescued 54 kidnapped hostages, as well as recovered a large cache of arms.

Mr Buba added that the air component conducted air interdictions on terrorist kingpin Gambo’s Enclave in Gusau Local Government Area and Bello Turji’s hideout in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara within the week.

He added that several terrorists were neutralised and their structures as well as logistics destroyed.

He said that troops of Operation Whirl Punch neutralised 15 terrorists, arrested 27 suspects and rescued six kidnapped hostages, as well as recovered a large cache of arms.

In the Niger Delta, Mr Buba said the troops of Operation Delta Safe discovered and destroyed 71 illegal refining sites with nine dugout pits, 35 boats, four speedboats, 32 drums and 57 storage tanks within the week.

He added that the troops also recovered 788,400 litres of stolen crude oil, 28,995 litres of illegally refined AGO, 300 litres of DPK and 3,000 litres of PMS, as well as 20 cooking ovens, one pumping machine, 14 vehicles, one motorcycle, one tricycle and ten mobile phones.

According to him, troops neutralised two extremists, apprehended 41 suspected oil thefts and other violent extremists and recovered two magazines, six assorted arms and 189 assorted ammunition.

In the South-East, Mr Buba said the troops of Operation UDO KA neutralised eight extremists, nabbed 12 violent extremists and rescued 14 kidnapped hostages as well as recovered arms and four vehicles, amongst others.

“All recovered items, arrested suspects, and rescued hostages were handed over to the relevant authority for further action,” he said.

(NAN)