Nigerian troops have destroyed no fewer than 50 illegal refining sites and denied crude oil thieves petroleum products worth N407.5 million in the last two weeks, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said on Thursday.
Troops of operation Delta Safe on Operation Octopus Grip in the south south region also apprehended not least than 26 suspected oil thieves with different weapons.
Major General Musa Danmadami, Director, defence media operation who disclosed this while giving an update on military operations in Abuja, explained that troops recovered 797,000 litres of crude oil, 276,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), 500 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene, 8 weapons, 18 varieties of ammunitions among other things.
All items recovered and suspects have been handed over to the relevant authority for further action, he said.
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The director also disclosed that troops responded to human intelligence that revealed movement of arms and ammunition along Rumuola Psychiatric in Obio/Akpar Local Government Area of Rivers State, and arrested a suspected gun runner with three of his associates.
“Following the arrest, troops recovered AK47 rifles, AK46 rifle, single barrel pump action guns, AK47 magazines, solar prime explosive, powdered explosive among other items”, he said.
In the Northeast region, Danmadami stated that troops of Operation Hadin Kai neutralised 21 terrorists, captured 9 suspected Terrorists, arrested 11 suspected terrorists logistic suppliers/collaborators, 2 terrorists and rescued 54 terrorist escapees.
He also disclosed that a total of 974 terrorists comprising 77 adult males, 364 adult females and 533 children surrendered to troops at different locations within the joint areas of operation.
“The rescued terrorists escapees and members of the their families were profiled and given medical attention, while the surrendered terrorists and members of their families are also been profiled for further action,” he added.
“In a related development, the air component of Operation Hadin Kai conducted several air interdiction operations against terrorists enclaves and logistics in order to degrade and curb the spate of insecurity within the theatre of operations.
“In these operations, terrorists were seen taking covers and hidden under structures. Consequently, the locations were bombarded and feedback revealed that several terrorists suffered severed casualties while their structures and logistics were equally destroyed in the air strikes”, the director said.
Similarly, the director said troops of operation Hadarin Daji in the northwest region neutralized 24 terrorists, apprehended 19 suspected criminals and rescued 43 abducted civilians.
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