Thelma Osatohanmwen
The Director of Defence and Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, has revealed that 50 terrorists were killed, while 114 Deviants were detained in its recent operations in the South East and South South.
Speaking with newsmen at the defence headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, he explained that 19 suspected oil thieves were apprehended and 49 kidnapped victims rescued by the NA.
In his words, “Our operations in the last week resulted in 50 neutralised terrorists while 114 of them were arrested. Troops also arrested 19 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 49 kidnapped hostages.
“In the South-South region, troops denied oil thefts of the estimated sum of over N968 million. Furthermore, troops recovered 65 assorted weapons and 400 assorted ammunition,” Buba said.
Speaking on the progress of the security outfit so far, he added that the Operation Delta Safe discovered and destroyed illegal refining sites, and successfully recovered stolen products.
“54 dugout pits, 66 boats, 138 storage tanks, 253 cooking ovens, two pumping machines, eight speedboats, 17 hoses, 18 drums and two cylinders and 983,350 litres of stolen crude oil, 144,980 litres of illegally refined AGO and 71,650 litres of DPK were discovered.”
Buba also mentioned that the troops of Operation UDO KA during the past week, carried out a surprise operation and apprehended individuals suspected to be affiliated with IPOB/ESN in the Ikwo and Okigwe Local Government Areas of Ebonyi and Imo States.
He assured that the fight against crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region will continue with unwavering determination.
