As the fight against insurgency surges on, the Nigerian military has decried the “military capability” of terrorists especially in Nigeria’s northern region.
Major General Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations while briefing newsmen on Thursday at the Nigerian Defence Headquarters, DHQ, Abuja, expressed worry that as its “forces advance and clear areas in which these terrorist hibernate”, they “continue to recover weapons, explosives and IEDs which are indicative of the priorities of the terrorists”.
While noting that the terrorists have prioritised their military capability over everything else, Buba vowed that troops will continue to wipe them out through synchronised ground and air operations.
“The resolve of the armed forces is very clear and it is to destroy the terrorist and dismantle their military capabilities in order for citizens to be safe. Accordingly, troops are actively fighting in different forms and retain operational flexibility which gives us the ability to respond to different events and to project forces according to strategic needs.
“Indeed, the military has greatly degraded the terrorist, even though they are still present in the theatres of operation. It would take time and effort to completely destroy these terrorists, particularly as counter insurgency is akin to a marathon not a sprint,” the DHQ added.
On successful operations in recent times, Gen. Buba disclosed that in the second quarter of this year alone, troops “neutralized 2,245 terrorists, arrested 3,682 suspected terrorists and other criminal elements as well as rescued 1,993 kidnapped hostages”.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 2,783 weapons, 64,547 ammunitions and denied the oil theft of an estimated sum over N10 bn (N10,533,131,470.00) only”.
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