By Halimah Olamide

The Defence Headquarters has said that the command chains of terrorists are the major targets of the military in the renewed efforts to rid the country of banditry, terrorism and other forms of extremism.

The headquarters said it is going after the leaders of all the terrorists, insurgents and extremist groups undermining the security of the country.

In a statement by the Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, he said the ongoing counter-insurgency and counter0-terrorism operations across the country were yielding encouraging results.

He said the operations of the last one week had resulted in eliminating no fewer than 50 terrorists and arrest of 122 of them in different operations across the country.

According to him, the troops also arrested 49 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 182 kidnapped hostages.

He added that the troops recovered 66 assorted weapons and 11,474 assorted ammunition, comprising one conqueror APC, one GPMG, one NSVT gun, one GT3 rifle, 25 AK47 rifles, four pump action gun and two locally made AK47 rifles.

“Items recovered also include three locally made gun, one locally made revolver gun, four locally fabricated pistols and four long dane gun, two locally made hand grenades, one bandolier.

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“Others are 574 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 640 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 150 rounds of 12.7mm ammo, five rounds of 9mm ammo, 10,520 live cartridges and five vehicles, 27 mobile phones.

“Others are 12 motorcycle, three boafeng radios, one Motorolla HHR, three bicycles, one solar panel, one solar charger controller, one radio receiver and the sum of N75.9 million amongst other items.

In the North East, Buba said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai neutralised 33 terrorists, apprehended 13 and rescued 132 kidnapped hostages as well as recover cache of arms within the week.

In the North Central, he said the troops of Operation Safe Haven neutralised 20 terrorists , apprehended 34 and rescued 10 kidnapped hostages with recovery if a different calibre and arms and ammunition.

Buba said the troops of Operation Whirl Stroke neutralised a terrorists, arrested nine terrorists and rescued 8 kidnapped hostages during the week.

In the North West, the defence spokesman said the troops of Operation Hadarin Daji neutralised 20 terrorists, arrested 48 terrorists and rescued 56 kidnapped hostages as well as recovery of several weapons.

According to him, the air component, on Nov. 11, acquired and subsequently conducted air interdiction on enclave of a terrorist leader identified as ‘Damina’ in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara.

“Also, troops of Operation Whirl Punch neutralised four terrorists, arrested eight suspected terrorists and rescued nine kidnapped hostages as well as recovered arms and the sum of N75 million,” he said.

In the Niger Delta region, Buba said the troops of Operation Delta Safe destroyed 242 dugout pits, 49 boats, 78 storage tanks, one tricycle, 21 vehicles, 104 cooking ovens, three pumping machine, seven outboard engine and 49 illegal refining sites.

He added that the troops recovered 151,850 litres of stolen crude oil, 48,630 litres of illegally refined AGO and 10,125 litres of DPK.

“The armed forces will continue to apply strong military pressure such as has been witnessed in the week.

“The terrorist and their cohorts would continue to suffer heavy casualities and it is in their interest to surrender as being done in the North East of the country to avoid eventual destruction,” he added.