Nigeria’s military has served out stringent warnings to terrorists causing mayhem across the country to lay down their arms, or risk being annihilated.
Briefing newsmen at the Nigerian Defence Headquarters Abuja on Thursday, Major General Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations noted that since the beginning of 2024, several terrorists and their leaders have been killed or badly injured owing to offensive actions by both land and air forces.
“Troops are continuing their actions even at this very moment and we are proud of them and appreciate their brave conduct,” he said.
He insisted that the goal of the Nigerian military remains to restore peace and security for citizens to have an enjoyable life. “We will continue to do that in spite of the current circumstances. Troops will continue fighting with great effort, determination and sacrifice to bring about great results”.
Speaking on the recent heroics of young Nigerians, he said, “just like our footballers are making the nation proud at the ongoing AFCON, our musicians and artists are doing well on the world stage and our athletes are flying our flags high with pride. It is not beyond us with our resilient spirit to quench the fires of violence across the country”.
On operational successes of the military, he said, “in the month of January 2024, troops neutralized 266 terrorists, arrested 463 violent extremists/insurgents and rescued 116 kidnapped hostages.”
“Furthermore, troops recovered 447 assorted weapons and 6,697 assorted ammunition. In the month of Jan 24, troops operating in the SS, denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Two Billion Eight Hundred and Twenty One Million Five Hundred and Three Thousand and Nine Hundred Sixty Two Naira (N2, 821,503,962.00) only.
“In the SS, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Two Hundred and Twenty Million Eight Hundred and Thirty Nine Thousand and Five Hundred Naira (N220, 839,500.00) only.
“Additionally, troops recovered 208 assorted weapons and 5,332 assorted ammunitions.”
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 9 dugout pits, 19 boats, 21 storage tanks and 8 vehicles. Other items recovered include 35 cooking ovens, 3 pump machines and 18 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 157,300 litres of stolen crude oil, 23,750 litres of illegally refined AGO and 1,050 litres of DPK,” Buba added.
While noting that Nigeria’s security challenges are mostly self-inflicted, the DHQ urged citizens to rise up to the challenge.
“Unity is key to our victory in overcoming the security challenges confronting us as a nation. Indeed, it must be said that, militaries don’t go to war; rather it is nations that go to war. Our nation is at war, and wars can be complex and ugly. Already, we are witnessing some of the ugly trends of war across the country. It is time for citizens to close ranks with the military to win this war”, it added.