A total of six hundred and sixty nine captives held by terrorists have been rescued by troops one week after President Muhamamadu Buhari gave a marching order to Security Chiefs to secure the release of all abducted Nigerians.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said 23 of the terrorists were killed, 19 arrested while 1,158 and their families surrendered in the renewed offensive against criminal elements in the Northern part of the country.
Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Benard Onyeuko, who disclosed these during the biweekly update on the Armed Forces of Nigeria operations, said the troops also arrested Abdurrazaq Hudu, a logistics supplier of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) at Mutum Biyu village in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State.
Onyeuko stated further troops in the Northeast recovered 49 AK 47 rifles, 728 rounds of 7.62mm, four MG’s, one G3 rfiles, three 60mm mortar, one AA gun, one SMG, six Magazines, one hand grenade, one UXO anti tank RPG bomb, 11 dane guns, one gun tripod, one binocular, five bandoliers, eight crowbars.
Other items recovered, according to Director Defence Media Operations, include seven motorcycles, 31 bicycles, four heavy duty generators, three canoes, three tricycles, four motorcycles, 22 sewing machines, one video camera, four grinding machines, eight mobile phones, four cars, four trucks, one Toyota buffalo vehicle, eight drums of grains, medical syringes and 43,000:00 Naira cash.
“A total number of 1,158 terrorists and their families surrendered to own troops within the period under review comprising 164 men, 367 women and 627 children.
“Also, troops neutralised 23 terrorists, rescued 619 civilians and arrested 19 terrorists,” he said.
Onyeuko explained all surrendered Boko Haram terrorists, recovered items, rescued civilians and captured terrorists have been handed over to appropriate authorities for further actions.
In the North West, he said troops of Operation Hadarin Daji theatre sustained aggressive operations to deny terrorists and bandits further freedom of action which culminated into the rescue of 32 women and 18 children in Zamfara State.
He said troops on 10 April 2022, responded to a distress call of terrorist attack at Wanzamai in Tsafe local government area of Zamfara State and mobilized to the village and engaged the terrorist where scores of the terrorists were killed.
The Director said in the cause of the operation troops rescued 32 women and 18 children, adding that troops in a similar move successfully foiled terrorist attack in Bakura village in Bakura Local Government Area of Zamfara, where unspecified numbers of terrorist were neutralized and 200 rustled cattle recovered.
“Cumulatively, within the 3 weeks period under review, troops recovered 592 rustled cattle, 45 different assorted weapons, 80 rounds of different caliber ammunition, 50 motorcycles. Troops also rescued 179 civilians, neutralized 62 terrorists and apprehended 100 terrorists” he said.
Troops attached Operation Delta Safe discovered several illegal refining sites with 133 ovens, 194 metal tanks storages, 127 dugout pits, five wooden boats, 12 receivers, two ovens, two engines, two pumping machines, one oxygen cylinder, one motorcycle, one jetta vehicle, 4,000 polythene bags of illegal refined black oil and 5 trucks.
In his words, “cumulatively, 7,732,000 litres of crude oil and 10,821,605 litres of AGO was recovered”.
Furthermore, troops of Operation Dakatar Da Barawo, discovered and destroyed several illegal refinery sites, containing 145 ovens, 201 storage metal tanks, nine pumping machines, one Yamaha 40HP outboard engines, 55 dugout pits, 58 drums of AGO, 2 wooden boats, 100 polythene bags illegally refined AGO, one tanker loaded with illegal refined AGO.
He said in total, troops of Operation Dakatar Da Barawo, recovered 1,718,000 litres of AGO, 3,800,000 litres of crude oil, 350,000 litres of sludge, 20,000 litres of PMS and 100,000 litres of DPK.