The Military High Command reports that its troops rescued 251 kidnapped hostages across the country over the past week.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, made this announcement while addressing newsmen in Abuja.
According to him, troops deployed to various theatres of operation across the country recorded significant successes.
He elaborated that, overall, 197 terrorists were neutralized, 310 suspected criminals were arrested, and 251 hostages were rescued by troops.
“During the week under review, troops neutralized 197 and arrested 310 persons. Troops also arrested 22 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 251 kidnapped hostages.
In the South-South, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Seven Hundred and Sixty-Five Million Six Hundred and Fifty-Four Thousand One Hundred Naira (N765,654,100.00) only. Furthermore, troops recovered 180 assorted weapons and 5,123 assorted ammunition. Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 29 dugout pits, 22 boats, and 26 storage tanks.
Other items recovered include 66 cooking ovens, 85 drums, 8 vehicles, 3 mobile phones, and 43 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 728,360 litres of stolen crude oil, 143,450 litres of illegally refined AGO, 1,100 litres of DPK, and 18,750 litres of PMS.”
Addressing the insecurity in Zamfara State, Major General Buba noted that the state lacked a security platform to drive internal operations and reiterated the armed forces’ commitment to continue securing the state and the nation at large.
“On the other hand, the attention of the Defence Headquarters has been drawn to weighty allegations labelled against the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) by the Zamfara State Governor in a recent interview on Channels TV.
The AFN hereby makes it unequivocally clear that it is a professional force that is subservient to political authority, particularly the political leadership of Zamfara State.
The military will not join issues with the Governor; rather, we choose the path of cooperation over conflict with the state Governor and look forward to constructively engaging with him on these matters.
Troops of Operation HADARIN DAJI deployed to Zamfara State have lost 9 personnel so far in the month of June 2024. These killed-in-action personnel are a painful testament to our tireless efforts, commitment, and sacrifice to restoring peace and security in the state.
Interestingly, despite the state being described as the epicentre of kidnapping, the state has no internal security operation outfit to coordinate activities of security agencies operating in the state, as is found in other states. This situation leaves much to be desired.”
LV