The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has declared what it describes as “resounding successes” in nationwide counter-terrorism and anti-crime operations, claiming that hundreds of terrorists and criminals were neutralised, dozens arrested, and kidnapped victims rescued within a single week.
In its weekly press briefing for the week ending 14 August 2025, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, said Nigerian troops, working with hybrid forces and other security agencies, executed raids, ambushes, fighting patrols and other covert missions across all operational theatres.
According to him, “our men have continued to demonstrate courage, resilience and more determination to dismantle terrorists’ networks, defeat banditry and all other forms of crime and criminalities.”
He added that the air component carried out multiple reconnaissance and interdiction missions that destroyed terrorists’ camps and eliminated key targets.
Kangye started that in the North-East, troops of Operation Hadin Kai killed scores of Boko Haram, ISWAP and JAS fighters, arrested 37 suspects, and rescued five kidnapped victims, with large caches of weapons, ammunition, vehicles, motorcycles and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) recovered or destroyed.
In the North-West, under Operation Fansan Yamma, security forces engaged in fierce battles across Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna States, killing several terrorists, rescuing 17 hostages, and apprehending 11 suspects.
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In the North-Central region, troops of Operation Safe Haven responded to multiple distress calls in Plateau, Kaduna and Bauchi States, neutralising armed criminals, rescuing six kidnap victims, and arresting a suspected gunrunner who concealed an AK-47 rifle in a sack of animal feed.
Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke in Benue, Taraba, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory arrested two notorious arms dealers, identified as Mohammed Sanusi and Usman Alhaji Bala, and seized a large quantity of ammunition from a deserted extremists’ camp.
In the South-South, Operation Delta Safe forces claimed to have foiled oil theft worth over ₦37.5 million, seizing 24,575 litres of stolen crude, 9,140 litres of illegally refined diesel and 2,650 litres of petrol, while destroying illegal refining sites and arresting 34 suspects for oil theft, cultism, kidnapping and other offences.
In the South-East, Operation Udo Ka forces killed armed separatists, arrested six suspected IPOB/ESN members and a kidnapper in Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi States, and recovered weapons, ammunition and a vehicle.
Concluding the briefing, Kangye assured Nigerians that the Armed Forces would sustain the momentum, pledging that “peace and security will be returned to all troubled parts of the country.”
Yet, while the DHQ painted an optimistic picture of operational gains, security analysts caution that insurgency, banditry and oil theft remain deeply entrenched problems, raising doubts over whether such weekly successes can bring long-term stability.
