Military says 157 terrorists, 16 perpetrators of oil theft arrested

The Nigerian Military says it has neutralised 39 terrorists and arrested 157 terrorists and 16 perpetrators of oil theft.

This was disclosed by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba during a briefing on Ongoing Military Operational Activities by the Armed Forces in Abuja.

General Buba said: “Troops also rescued 109 kidnapped hostages and denied oil theft of the sum of Seven Hundred and Sixty-Five Million Eight Hundred and Sixty-Three Thousand Naira (N765,863,000.00) only.”

He noted that troops recovered 55assorted weapons and 96assorted ammunition.

According to him, the breakdown as follows: 12 AK47 rifles, one GPMG, one HK21 gun, one FN rifle loaded with 5 rounds of NATO ammo, 2 Dane guns, 3 fabricated rifles, one fabricated pistol, 3 locally made pistols, 11 AK47 magazines, 71 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 22 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 2 rounds of 9mm ammo, one cartridge, one bandolier, 7 rounds 7.62mm special empty cases, 24 motorcycles, 13 mobile phones, 10 bicycles and the sum of Eight Hundred and Eighty One Thousand Seven Hundred Naira (N881,700.00).

The Director added that troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 71 dugout pits, 36 boats, 83 storage tanks, 5 vehicles, 4 motorcycles, 58 cooking ovens, 5 pumping machines, 3 generators,3 speedboats and 34 illegal refining sites.

Also, troops recovered 569,400 litres of stolen crude oil, 486,000 litres of illegally refined AGO and 59,500 litres of PMS.

He said that “the military will continue to pursue aggressive military operations against violent extremist groups seeking to undermine the security of the country and conduct violence against the people.”

Accordingly, the Armed Forces remains focused on its core mission and would continually make adjustments along the way to better protect citizens, while isolating and annihilating those groups constituting a security nuisance to the country.

Meanwhile, a minute’s silence was observed for the Former Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Bernard Onyeuko who died on the 26th of August, 2023 and other officers who lost their lives.