The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has disclosed that a total of 6,260 terrorists, violent extremists, and other criminals were eliminated during joint military operations across Nigeria in the past two years.
Deputy Director of Defence Media Operations, Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Abu-Mawashi made the revelation on Thursday during an expanded meeting with media executives at the DHQ in Abuja.
He further stated that 14,138 terrorists and criminals were arrested, while 5,365 civilians were rescued during various operations nationwide within the period under review.
Abu-Mawashi highlighted that troops recovered hundreds of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition across different theatres of operation.
Providing a regional breakdown, he said troops in the Niger Delta recovered stolen crude oil and other petroleum products worth N83 billion, killed 103 criminals, arrested 2,760 suspects, and rescued 266 kidnapped civilians.
In the Northeast, 1,246 fighters from Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) were neutralised, while 2,467 were arrested by security forces.
The Defence Headquarters assured that the military remains committed to restoring peace and security across the country.
“The troops rescued 1,920 civilians, recovered 982 arms and 2,153 ammunition in the Northeast,” he said.
According to him, troops killed 1,374 bandits, including their top commanders in the Northwest theatre of operation, which comprises Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto States.
They also arrested 2,160 bandits and rescued 3,288 hostages from bandit enclaves.
He said, “The arms and ammunition recovered are 947 weapons and 25,802 rounds of ammunition, respectively.”
The defence spokesman said troops on operations in the North-central killed 730 terrorists, bandits and violent extremists, and arrested 7,153 violent extremists.
He said 1,510 civilians were rescued, while 1,065 weapons and 19,709 rounds were recovered.
In the military’s Joint Task Force Southeast over the past two years, the defence spokesman said 440 terrorists were killed while 1,677 criminals were arrested.
“The troops rescued 294 civilians and recovered 683 weapons and 21,300 rounds of ammunition,” he said.
“Finally, Joint Task Force Southwest killed 80 criminals and arrested 1,763 others, while they rescued 89 kidnap victims.
“Troops recovered 143 weapons and 177,904 rounds of ammunition,” the defence spokesman added.
The Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau said the event marked a significant milestone in their collective efforts to address and mitigate the complex security challenges confronting the nation.
Gusau said the programme was conceived in alignment with one of the leadership philosophies of the CDS, which is “leading a people-centric armed forces.”
He pledged the commitment of the military to ensuring that the Nigerian public remains accurately and adequately informed about the activities, achievements and sacrifices of the armed forces.
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