Police Crack Down on Gun Running: 5 Arms Dealer Suspects Paraded, 17 Rifles, Revolver, Amminition Recovered

The Nigerian Military destroyed 57 illegal refining sites, 18 dugout pits, 30 boats and 49 storage tanks, recovered 1,125,440 litres of stolen crude oil within one week.

The Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba disclosed this while briefing Journalists on the ongoing military operations in six geopolitical zones of the country.

General Buba said within one week, troops recovered 213,539 litres of illegally refined AGO and 1,230 litres of PMS, 66 cooking ovens, 4 drums, 5 speedboats, 15 vehicles, 2 tricycles, one generator, 11 mobile phones and denied the oil thieves of the estimated sum of One Billion One Hundred and Twenty Seven Million Two Hundred and Twenty Nine Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninty Naira (N1,127,229,890.00) only.

General Buba who said troops operations are complex as troops are engaged in fighting in difficult terrains as well as fighting an adversaries that adopts various forms, across the country, clearly state that they have boots on the ground and are fighting in several dimensions to crush the enemy. 

He added that during the week under review, troops neutralised 187 and arrested 183 persons. Troops also arrested 26 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 109 kidnapped hostages.

He confirmed the recovery of  128 assorted weapons and 3,300 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: one PKT gun, 80 AK47 rifles, 15 locally fabricated gun, 15 dane guns, 2 FN rifles, 5 pump action guns, 2 single barrel guns, 4 locally fabricated pistols, one fabricated barretta pistol, one locally made double barrel gun, 2 hand grenades, 2 primed IEDs and materials.

Others are: 1,941 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 729 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 377 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 191 rounds of 5.55mm ammo, 199 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 16 rounds of 9mm ammo, 26 live cartridges, 26 empty case of cartridges, 26 AK47 magazines, 6 baofeng radios, 10 vehicles, 4 motorcycles, 4 walkie-talkie, mobile phones and the sum of N102,010.00 only amongst other items.

General Buba who reaffirmed that troops are fighting on ground, air, at sea as well as in the cyber dimension in several parts of the country, pointed out that the common denominator in all our operations are the terrorist and they are the enemy that must be fought and defeated. "They are responsible for keeping the nation in an almost constant state of counter terrorism and counter insurgency."

He said troops are confronted by a vicious enemy that are constantly trying to kill citizens or have killed citizens. Indeed, these terror group are responsible perpetrating insecurity across the country and will not stop doing what the are doing, until they are stopped. 

"We are aware of some of the plans to target some critical infrastructure in the country. Accordingly, we have emplaced measures to forestall such plans. Security agencies responsible for securing critical infrastructure and facilities have also been placed on alert. Accordingly, some of such plans have been frustrated. 

"In this fight, citizens must understand that, we must never compromise on security, otherwise everyone's security will be compromised. This is a situation that cannot be over emphasized for us to live in safety and security" he said

He stressed that, the military is doing what is needed at this time. "We force the terrorist to pay a price for every act of aggression against citizens of this country. We recognise and have included this as part of our strategy to win the war. 

"Overall, we have no choice but to fight for the safety and security of our citizens. We also fight to safeguard our nation and preserve our way of life as a people. For us a force, Defence is the essence of what we do as an armed forces. Accordingly, we would defeat the terrorists on the battlefield and help our nation flourish again."