By SUMAILA OGBAJE

The Nigerian military says its troops deployed in different operations, killed key terrorist commanders and several of their foot soldiers in the first quarter of the year.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Markus Kangye, made this known while briefing newsmen on operations of the military on Thursday in Abuja.

Kangye said the first quarter, spanning January to March, witnessed aggressive operational tempo by the gallant troops in conjunction with hybrid forces and other security agencies across all theaters.

He said the troops demonstrated uncommon bravery, resilience, determination and strong will during various encounters throughout the quarter, including fighting and confidence building patrols, raids, ambushes and clearance as well as search and rescue operations with remarkable outcomes.

According to him, many terrorist commanders such as Abba Allai (aka Amirul Khalid of Alafa), Abdullahi (aka Honour), Jagaban and Dan Danger amongst others, were neutralised.

?Abdullahi Ali was captured alive with severe gun wounds, while efforts by our gallant troops created gaps in the command and leadership structures of Boko Haram terrorists as well as Islamic States of West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists.

?There were also infighting for supremacy within the ranks of the various terrorist factions, which sparked cracks in their leadership hierarchy, hence the observed confusion in their various camps.

?Our gallant troops exploited the situation and dealt decisively with them on various fronts, hence their resort to attack on soft targets and use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and isolated ambushes.

?The sustained operations against the terrorists also led to the arrest of scores of them, rescue of kidnapped hostages as well as surrendering of many to our troops,? he said.

Kangye said some alleged gunrunners and terrorists? logistics suppliers such as Alhaji Mansur Mohammed, Shehu Babangida, Sagi David, Blessing Paul, Shuaibu Maji were also apprehended.

He said troops recovered huge quantities of assorted arms including various kinds of machine guns, RPG tubes, automatic weapons as well as locally fabricated guns and IEDs.

According to him, huge cache of assorted 7.62mm and Nine mm ammunition, as well as live cartridges were also recovered.

Kangye said that troops of Operation Delta Safe foiled oil theft worth over N7.4 billion, comprising 6.2 million litres of stolen crude oil, 1.3 million litres of illegally refined AGO, 6,130 litres of Dual-Purpose Kerosene (DPK) and 4,545 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

?Additionally, troops discovered and destroyed 257 crude oil cooking ovens, 128 dugout pits, 192 boats, 138 storage tanks, 236 drums and 122 illegal refining sites.

?Other items recovered include barge, speedboats, pumping machines, drilling machines, and 90 vehicles,? he said. (NAN)

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