The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says troops on operations across the country killed 118, arrested 97 suspected criminals, and rescued 96 kidnap victims in the past week.

It said troops destroyed 44 illegal refineries and seized 602,200 litres of stolen crude, 64,900 litres of illegally refined diesel, 12,690 litres of petrol, and arrested oil thieves in the Niger Delta region.

The military high command announced this in a statement by the Director of Defence Media Operations Maj-Gen Edward Buba, on Friday, October 4.

According to Gen. Buba, in the past week, troops recovered 87 assorted weapons comprising one PKT gun, one PKM, one RPG, one auto pistol, 43 AK47 rifles, 14 fabricated rifles, 14 dane guns, five pump action guns, and 6 AK47 magazines.

He said troops also recovered 2,244 assorted ammunition comprising 1,715 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 505 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 8 rounds of 9mm ammo, 14 live cartridges, and 89 empty cases of 7.62mm ammo, among other items.

Gen. Buba said troops were in a ?good place? in winning the war against terrorists.

He said: ?Indeed, the armed forces would continue to innovate and develop new strategies to defend the country and protect citizens from the perpetrators of insecurity.

?Troops are eliminating more and more terrorist commanders and combatants on the battlefield through ongoing operations across the country.

?The armed forces are indeed determined and remain focused on destroying terrorist networks and infrastructures across the country.? (The Nation)