By SUMAILA OGBAJE

Troops of Nigeria military have neutralised 212 terrorists, apprehended 317 suspects and rescued 152 kidnapped hostages through a well-executed operation across the country in the last one week.

The Director Defence Media Operations, Maj.- Gen. Edward Buba, said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

Buba said that the troops were on high alert and had increased readiness to protect the country from further terrorist aggression, particularly during the yuletide.

?Accordingly, robust operations targeted at terrorist leadership are being conducted across the various theatres of operations.

?Significantly, a high-profile terrorists identified as Hamisu Sale (aka Master) and Abubakar Muhammad were arrested during separate operations conducted in North Central theatre of operation,? he said.

According to him, the duo are cooperating and providing valuable intelligence on the terror network.

He said that similarly, troops in the North West theatre of operation, arrested another high profile and notorious terrorist identified as Bako Wurgi.

?The arrested terror leader is linked to the murder of the Sokoto Monarch and a staunch ally of wanted high profile terrorist Bello Turji.

?The arrested terrorist leader, Bako Wurgi, eventually succumbed to gun shot injuries sustained during the fire fight.

?He nevertheless provided valuable intelligence to support troops operations before he died.

?During the week under review, troops neutralised 212 and arrested 272 persons.

?Troops also arrested 45 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 152 kidnapped hostages,? he said.

He said that in the South -South, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of N1.19bn.

Buba said that the troops also recovered 247 assorted weapons and 6,174 assorted ammunition.

?The recovered weapon includes two RPG UXO4, 110 AK47 rifles, 56 fabricated rifles, 36 dane guns, two FN rifles, two baretta pistols, 15 locally made pistols and two revolver pistols.

?Others are 12 pump action guns, two double barrel guns, one single barrel gun, one RPG bomb, one RPG tube, two exploded RPG chargers, one PKM link, one link of GPMG and 70 AK47 magazines.

?It also includes 3,235 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,583 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 130 rounds of 7.62 x 51mm ammo, 400 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 92 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm ammo.

?Also recovered are 107 rounds of 9mm ammo, 311 live cartridges, one FN magazine, three bandoliers, five baofeng radios, eight vehicles, 51 motorcycles and 103 mobile phones amongst other items.?

He said that troops In the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 35 crude oil cooking ovens, 27 dugout pits, 35 boats, 51 storage tanks and 61 illegal refining sites.

?Other items recovered include five speedboats, five receivers, 59 drums, three motorcycles, three mobile phones and eight vehicles among others.

?Troops recovered 940,372 litres of stolen crude oil, 252,000 litres of illegally refined AGO and 132 litres of PMS.

?Overall, troops are bent on achieving sustainable peace in the nation by ensuring that the terrorist are held account for any act of aggression against citizens.?

He urged citizens to always say something whenever they see something for maximum results. (NAN)

Update news