The military says it denied crude oil thieves operating in the Niger Delta region from stealing over N57 billion worth of crude oil in 2024, while also eliminating 8, 034 terrorists during the same period.
This was stated on Thursday by the Director Defence Media Operation, Major General Edward Buba during a press conference at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.
Gen. Buba also stated that troops operating in the North Central, North East, North West, South East and South South killed no fewer than 8,034 terrorists from January to December 2024.
He added that 11,623 suspected terrorists were arrest and 6,376 hostages were rescued.
He said: “Troops have since the beginning of the year been confronted by different threats in five active theatres of operations across the country, namely, North East, North Wes6, North Central, South South and the South East.
“Accordingly, troops adopted a high level of alert and an increased state of readiness to protect the country from further terrorist aggression and insecurity.
“Troops aggression across the various theatres of operation since the beginning of the year culminated in 8,034 neutralized terrorists, 11,623 arrest and 6,376 rescued hostages.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 8,216 weapons, 211,459 ammunitions and denied the oil theft of an estimated sum over N57billion.
“The breakdown of the recoveries are as follows, 4,053 AK-47 rifles, 1,123 locally fabricated guns, 731 dane guns and 240 pump action guns.
“Others are 120,247 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 41,515 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 5,373 cartridges, 1,940 assorted arms and 25,664 assorted ammunitions.
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“Additionally, troops recovered: 53,101,430 litres of stolen crude oil, 9,179,181 litres of illegally refined AGO and 90,595 litres of DPK, and 156,095 litres of PMS amongst other items.”
The defence spokesperson assured citizens that the military is consistently improving its techniques to combat terrorists and insurgents, in order to eliminate them and safeguard citizens across the country.
“Overall, the military is keeping up the pressure through ongoing operations in the various theatres across the country.
“The military is through these operations, increasingly creating conditions in which terrorists cannot carry out acts of terror or harm citizens.
“On the whole, the armed forces is constantly examining ways to improve the effectiveness of its operations and guarantee the safety of citizens. Relatedly, operations are on an upward trajectory to winning the war,” Gen. Buba noted.
