According to information released by the Defence Headquarters, troops conducting air interdictions on the border between Niger and Zamfara states have killed over 100 militants.
Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, the head of Defense Media Operations, disclosed this information on Thursday in Abuja during a report on military activities conducted during the last week throughout the nation.
He claimed that the operations also completely destroyed several rebels in other regions of the nation while displaying images of the Nigerian Air Force’s (NAF) aerial interdictions.
According to Buba, the military made multiple arrests and found several items during a surgical operation that was directed towards the home of an ISWAP terrorist commander in Niger.
He added additional operations carried out by the military in several theaters last week resulted in the neutralization of 73 terrorists and the apprehension of 182 more.
He claims that in addition to freeing 68 captives in the South-South and apprehending 14 alleged oil thieves, the army also confiscated an estimated N1.212 billion from the illegal enterprise.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 119 assorted weapons and 1,537 assorted ammunition. The breakdown is as follows: one GPMG, three PKT guns, 39 AK-47 rifles, five locally fabricated rifles, one locally made double-barrel gun, one Bereta pistol, four locally made pistols, five RPG bombs, and five pump-action guns.
“Also recovered were one short gun, one hand grenade, two Dane guns, one AK-47 rifle loaded with 14 rounds of 7.62mm special, and one locally made pistol loaded with live cartridges.
“Others are 586 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, a bag containing 287 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 389 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammo, 141 rounds of 7.62mm special (belted) ammo and 12 rounds of 9mm ammo.
“Also recovered are 113 rounds of live cartridges, 25 empty magazines, 13 vehicles, three motorcycles, 10 mobile phones, two HH radios, one Boafeng radio, and the sum of N3.3 million, among other items,” he said.
In the North East, Buba said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai neutralised 39 Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, arrested 22, rescued 18 hostages, and recovered a large cache of arms.
In the North Central, the troops of Operations Safe Haven and Whirl Stroke neutralised 12 terrorists, arrested 109, rescued 22 kidnapped hostages and recovered several arms and ammunition, he added.