Troops nab 133 oil thieves and terrorists in one week

The Nigerian Military on Thursday said its troops carrying out operations in the North and Southern regions have apprehended no fewer than 133 terrorists and oil thieves in the last week.

Major-General Edward Buba, director of defense media operations, who disclosed this in Abuja, said 50 terrorists were killed during the operations while 114 of them, and 19 perpetrators of oil theft arrested perpetrators of oil theft were arrested.

Buba added that the troops rescued 49 kidnapped hostages across the country within the period and denied oil thieves crude products worth N968. 1 million in the Niger Delta region. “Troops recovered 983,350 liters of stolen crude oil, 144,980 liters of illegally refined Automative Gas Oil, and 71,650 liters of Dual Purpose Kerosene”, he said.

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Speaking further, the director informed that the military has identified several terrorists and other criminals’ safsafe-havens operations are targeted towards ensuring that they are completely dismantled.

According to him, the “safe haven” is among the central issues on the ground, in terms of setting security conditions and overcoming the instability s of some of the violent extremist groups that have existed for many years.

“These safe havens in effect provided a support base for insurgent activities. For instance, these safe havens provide the flow of funding, material, weapons, fighters, command and control that supports terrorism and insurgency confronting us”, he said, adding that there are safe havens spread across various theatres ranging from the tumbuns in the northeast to other locations such as national parks, game reserves and forests across the country.

Buba said recently, that one of the safe havens in Aku Forest in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State in the southeast was invaded, and troops found unspeakable and unprintable activities going on in the camp.

“These extremists are cannibals feasting on fellow humans and slaughtering them for other devilish acts”, Buba revealed.

The military assured that the armed forces are constantly restrategizing and modifying their operations to overcome the changes in tactics of the extremists operating across the country.

“It is clear that some of the safe havens from which these insurgents and terrorists operate often extend across the borders with other countries, thereby making it a regional issue. Nevertheless, the objective of ongoing operations is to ensure these safe havens are destroyed within the shores of the country”, he further said.