By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Defence Headquarters has announced how Nigeria Army achieved the feat of neutralizing 92 terrorists while apprehending 111 persons suspected to perpetuating same criminal act in one week.
It also said 75 kidnapped hostages were rescued from their abductors’ den within the same space of time.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Markus Kangye, disclosed this during a press briefing on Thursday in Abuja.
Kangye stated that troops also recovered a total of 117 assorted weapons and 2,939 rounds of ammunition.
The recovered weapons included:58 AK47 rifles, 21 locally fabricated guns, 26 dane guns, seven pump action guns, and four PKT guns.
He said the troops also recovered two GPMGs, one QJC W85 gun, one HK 21 gun, one M60 MG, 11 RPG bombs, two RPG tubes and one fabricated 60mm mortar.
“They also recovered 2,278 rounds of assorted 7.62mm ammunition, 26 live cartridges, 64 rounds of 9mm ammo, 18 magazines, as well as other 8 assorted arms,” he said.
Kangye stated that troops also apprehended 18 individuals involved in oil theft and successfully foiled oil theft operations valued at approximately N521.8 million in the South-South region.
According to him, troops of Operation Delta Safe recovered 452,396 litres of stolen crude oil, 224,175 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil and 1,920 litres of PMS.
He added that the troops discovered and destroyed 87 crude oil cooking ovens, 28 dugout pits, 23 boats, 33 storage tanks, 61 drums and 47 illegal refining sites.
“Other items recovered include two pumping machines, three tricycles, five motorcycles, two mobile phones and six vehicles among others.
In the North East, Kangye said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai recorded a total surrender of 101 terrorists comprising 11 adult males, 39 adult females and 51 children who surrendered to troops within the theatre of operation during the week.
He said the troops neutralised 25 terrorists, including a terrorist Commander Abba Alai (Amirul Khalid of Alafa), apprehended 14 and rescued seven kidnapped hostages.
“The gallant men and women of the armed force will continue to carry out the constitutional responsibilities of protecting lives and properties of all Nigerians in line with our rules of Engagement and Code of Conduct for Internal Security Operations,” he said.
This break down of remarkable achievements was rolled out barely 24 hours after the Global Terrorism Index released its 2025 reports.
The Global Terrorism Index released on Wednesday ranked Nigeria sixth globally, with a score of 7.658, moving up from eighth place in 2023 and 2024. It also recorded 565 terrorism-related deaths in Nigeria in 2024.
The DHQ has since questioned the credibility of the report claiming that it can’t stand close scrutiny.
It also asked Nigerians to rely on the report from the Nigeria military stressing that it provides a more accurate account of counter-terrorism efforts in the country than those from external sources.
