By Olaitan Ibrahim
The Defence Headquarters has said troops on internal security operations across the country have killed 82 terrorists and arrested 198 criminals within one week.
In a statement released on Friday, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj-Gen Markus Kangye, said the troops also rescued 93 kidnap victims in one week and recovered 86 high-calibre weapons and 2,040 weapons across the theatres of operation in the country.
According to the DHQ spokesman, 41 terrorists, comprising 10 males, 12 females, and 19 children, surrendered to troops of Operation Hadin Kai in the North East.
He said troops in the Niger Delta region seized crude oil and other products worth over N500 million.
According to him, the breakdown includes 366,530 litres of stolen crude, 117,320 litres of illegally refined diesel, and 600 litres of Kerosene.
He said, “Additionally, troops discovered and destroyed 38 crude oil cooking ovens, 27 dugout pits, 22 boats, three speedboats, 60 storage tanks, 34 drums, and 32 illegal refining sites.
“Troops arrested 22 oil thieves, recovered two and 152 assorted arms and ammunition as well as five magazines among others.”
Giving details on weapons seized, the defence spokesman said troops recovered 46 AK47 rifles, 18 locally fabricated guns, 19 Dane guns, and three pump action guns.
He said the ammunition recovered 1,165 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 128 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 600 rounds of 7.62 x 12.7mm ammo, and 51 cartridges.