How military kills 49 insurgents and criminals across the country

The Nigerian Armed Forces maintained their aggressive operations across the country, killing 49 people involved in terrorism, banditry, and criminality.

Brig.-Gen Benard Onyeuko, Director, Defence Media Operations (DMO), disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday while briefing journalists on the status of military operations across the country.

He stated that in the last two weeks, 1,186 Boko Haram terrorists and their families, including 226 adult males, 406 adult females, and 555 children, surrendered to troops of Operation Hadin Kai at various locations in the North-east.

Seventy-one (71) other people were arrested, including two women logistics suppliers, Mrs Aisha Umar, 19, and Mrs Kaltumi Bakura, 20, both of whom live in an IDP camp in Bama.

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He also stated that troops rescued 97 kidnapped civilians and recovered 122 weapons.

According to the Director, troops from Operation Delta Safe have discovered and demobilized over 20 illegal refining sites, 62 ovens, 12 cooking pots/boilers, 8 cooling systems, 19 reservoirs, 18 large dugout pits, and 88 storage tanks while conducting land, maritime, and air operations to disrupt the activities of economic saboteurs and other criminal elements in the South-South zone.

“To date, troops have discovered and immobilized a total of 20 illegal refining sites,” he said. In addition, 8 criminal elements, including 2 impostors, were apprehended, and 7 arms and 3 rounds of ammunition, among other items, were recovered during the Zone operations. During the same time period, troops rescued 13 kidnapped civilians. As a result, during the operations, a total of one million, two hundred and three thousand, two hundred and fifty litres (1,252,250ltrs) of illegally refined AGO and one million, one hundred and thirty-eight thousand, three hundred and forty litres (1,140,340ltrs) of stolen crude were recovered.

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“Furthermore, troops neutralized three armed robbers and rescued two kidnapped civilians during the period, while five criminal elements associated with pipeline vandalism, piracy, illegal oil bunkering, and armed robbery were arrested.” He stated that the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) and other security agencies’ kinetic and non-kinetic efforts in the fight against criminalities across the country are yielding significant results, and that the military will not relent or rest on its oars in the fight against criminalities in all parts of the country.