Troops kill 43 terrorists, apprehend 76 in South-South

Troops of the Nigerian military killed 43 terrorists and arrested 76 others in the South-South geopolitical zone of the country.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, disclosed this in statement made available to newsmen.

According to him, the troops also arrested 29 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 27 kidnapped hostages.

The military spokesman added that troops recovered 81 assorted weapons and 2,150 assorted ammunition.

The breakdown of the recovered arms is as follows: “One NSVT AA gun, one GPMG, one PKMG, 36 AK47 rifles, one RPG 7 tube, 2 AGL bombs, 4 pump action guns, 4 locally fabricated guns, 8 dane guns, 3 shotguns, one cut-to-short dane gun, 2 beretta pistols, one damaged AK47 rifle, 2 RPG chargers, wooden stock of AK47 rifles, LMG magazine, 8 bandoliers and 42 magazines.

“Others are: 272 belted rounds of 7.62 x 51mm, 268 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 557 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm special, 1000 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 3 rounds of 12.7 x 108mm, 6 rounds of 9mm ammo, one AA ammo, 74 live cartridges, empty cases of 7.62mm special ammo, 2 vehicles, 25 motorcycles, 21 mobile phones, 6 baofeng radios and the sum of N1,266,920.00 only amongst other items.”

Buba further disclosed that troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 7 dugout pits, 13 boats, 23 storage tanks, 2 barges and 4 vehicles.

“Other items recovered include 15 cooking ovens, 2 pump machines and 16 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 139,045 litres of stolen crude oil, 25,115 litres of illegally refined AGO and 5,200 litres of DPK.

“The Armed Forces will always be mindful of the threat by kidnapping gangs and terrorists across the country,” he said.

Buba said the military will continually review internal processes in order to deal with identified threats.