Troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria in aggressive pursuit Nigeria’s strategic security interest in the last two weeks rescued 44 kidnapped persons while dislodging 80 Boko Haram terrorists and arresting 304 other hoodlums across the country, the Defence Headquarters said yesterday.
Director Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major General Edward Buba, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja while at a regular bi-weekly briefing of defence correspondents in Abuja on ongoing Military Operational Activities by the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the various geopolitical zones of the country.
He said the troops also arrested 152 suspected crude oil robbers and denied them of about N347,173,500.00 worth of unrefined crude in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of the country.
Major General Buba also disclosed that the gallant troops recovered 112 assorted weapons and 898 assorted ammunitions made up of 2 GPMG, one HK21 gun, 14 AK47 rifles, 8 pump action guns, 4 locally fabricated rifles, 8 locally made pistols, 5 dane guns, 239 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 431 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 4 rounds of 9mm ammo and 52 live cartridges.
The other recovered items included 5 magazines loaded with 128 rounds of 7.62mm special, 6 vehicles, 28 mobile phones, 12 motorcycles, one laptop and sum of N782,790.00, among other weapons that were found in illegal hands.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area destroyed 8 dugout pits, 11 boats, 46 storage tanks, 7 vehicles, 84 cooking ovens, 356 drums, one outboard engine, one pumping machine and 20 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 81,000 litres of stolen crude oil, 239,500 litres of illegally refined AGO, 5,000 litres of DPK and 10,500 litres of PMS,” he said.
Major General Edward Buba, while fielding questions on other security-related matters was very careful, thoughtful and restrained while answering reporters’ questions on last Sunday’s unfortunate military bombing of a Kaduna village. In very few solemn words with pains written all over his face, he said,
“The armed forces is very concerned about the issues of civilian casualties in operations, a situation which it views as tragic and unwanted. The military is determined to deal with the situation properly and make improvement from our experiences.”
He gave assurance that the military, in future operations, will ensure that it takes greater measures and care to avert further unmitigated civilian casualties, contending that the main goal protecting civilians remained a vital part of the Nigerian military operations geared towards promoting and guaranteeing greater security for all citizens of Nigerian wherever they chose to live within country.
Major General Edward Buba used the briefing emphasize that the entire nation is at war, and restated the commitment and readiness of the Nigerian military to pursue ongoing operations across the country with renewed faith and vigour “in support of our national security interest”.
According to him, the operations were “integral to the plan of focusing full military pressure on the terrorists, insurgents and extremists to dismantle and destroy them and force them into submission.”
“Accordingly, the military remains focused to its core mission of creating a safe and secure environment for citizens by the total destruction of threats perpetrating insecurity in the country,” he said.
Major General Edward Buba, while conceding the huge public interest which the unfortunate Kaduna military mishap had generated across the land, expressed military’s heartfelt condolences to relations and families of the affected persons.
“The military stands with all those grieving as a result of the drone strike and express our heartfelt condolences as a force over the losses.
“We pray for eternal peace for their souls. The incident is being investigated and the outcome of the investigation would go a long way in identifying areas of improvement to forestry future occurrences.”
