Troops deployed for internal operations nationwide have rescued 140 civilian hostages, killed 36 terrorists, and arrested 163 criminals , the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said.
Also, 313 terrorists comprising 12 male adults, 138 female adults and 162 children surrendered to troops in different locations in the theatre of operation.
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The director of Defence Media Operations Major General Edward Buba gave the figure at the bi-weekly update on Armed Forces of Nigeria operations in the last two weeks.
He said the military has no greater priority than to restore normalcy and end all security challenges in the country.
Buba said the men and women of the armed forces have answered a call to duty to fight the perpetrators of these evil to submission, adding that, “We are in a good fight, and must flush them out from amongst us”.
He said during the week under review, the military killed 36 terrorists, arrested 137 gunmen, three gunrunners, two kidnappers, six collaborators, 15 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 140 kidnapped hostages.
The troops also recovered 37 weapons, 370 ammunition and recovered the sum of N3,177,650.
In a breakdown, he said the troops recovered 16 AK47 rifles, six pump action guns, six dane guns, three fabricated rifles, two locally-made pistols, 199 rounds of 7.62mm special, six rounds of 7.62mm NATO, nine AK47 magazines, two G3 magazines, eight vehicles, 45 motorcycles, 32 mobile phones, 925 machetes and 151 machete sharpeners.
The troops also recovered 61 dugout pits, 32 wooden boats, 87 storage tanks, one speedboat, 32 cooking ovens, three outboard engine, one generator, two pumping machines, 36 illegal refining sites, 310,700 litres of stolen crude oil, 14,675 litres Automotive Gas Oil, 49,000 Dual Purpose Kerosine and five litres of Premium Motor Spirit.