Nigerian troops have neutralized 177 and arrested 263 persons, the Nigerian Defence Headquarters, DHQ has announced.
The DHQ also said its troops also arrested 41 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 158 kidnapped hostages in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
Disclosing this in a brief to newsmen at the weekend, Major General Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations said its men “are taking the fight to the terrorist and making significant strides each passing day”.
“In the SS, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Five Hundred and One Million Eighty Nine Thousand Four Hundred Naira (N501,089,400.00) only.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 170 assorted weapons and 4,692 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: 6 PKT guns, 63 AK47 rifles, 3 FN rifles, one SMG rifle, 29 locally fabricated gun, 37 dane guns, 20 pump action guns, one short double barrel gun, 2 double barrel guns, 2 single barrel guns, one locally made single barrel, 6 locally fabricated pistols, 4 bandoliers, RPG bombs, RPG charger, 2 primed IEDs and materials.
“Others are: 2,100 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,239 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 419 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 212 rounds of 5.56 x 54mm ammo, 722 live cartridges, 13 empty cases of 7.62mm ammo, 74 AK47 magazines, 2 FN magazines, 6 baofeng radios, 17 vehicles, 43 motorcycles, 31 mobile phones and the sum of N2,149,700.00 only amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 20 dugout pits, 32 boats and 32 storage tanks. Other items recovered include 58 cooking ovens, 17 vehicles, one pumping machine, 5 mobile phones and 49 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 1,007,115 litres of stolen crude oil and 141,664 litres of illegally refined AGO,” the DHQ briefed.