The Defence Headquarters said even as Armed Forces of Nigeria mourn the tragic passing of late Chief of Army Staff COAS,Lt Gen Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja,it will not derail the military focus to destroy the terrorists, but rather inspired by the actions of late COAS on the battlefield as a war commander as well as his strong desire to defeat the terrorist in order to end the war.
The military authority assured that it will continue working decisively to eliminate the terrorists, stop the insecurity in the nation and ensure the safety of citizens. The armed forces also said it remained in a good and strong position in the war against terrorism and other criminals acts and will win the war.
Major General Edward Buba, Director Defence Media Operations DMO,said this at a bi-weekly Media briefing held at Defence Headquarters Abuja on the ongoing military Operations across in the month of October.
General Buba said Troops have done a tremendous job of significantly dismantling the terror groups across the country, in various theatres of operations.
He said “Our strategy remains to undermine the ability of these terror groups and their cohorts.
“Troops conducted simultaneous strikes on several terrorist enclaves and hideouts across the country. The Airforce carried out bombardments and air interdiction on these terrorist hideouts and enclaves with precision, thereby diminishing the fighting capabilities of these terrorist. .
“Truly, the terrorist knows that they cannot match our military strength. The options open to them is to surrender or be killed in the battlefield. Accordingly, some terrorist leaders, commanders and combatants have indicated to surrender. We are opening a surrendering corridor for that purpose.
“It is noteworthy, to state that, in October 2024, troops neutralized 481 terrorists. Other details are that, troops arrested 741 persons including terrorist. Troops also rescued 492 kidnapped hostages.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 480 weapons and 9,026 assorted ammunitions. Whilst they denied the oil theft of an estimated sum of close to #4 bn (N3,896,400.960.00) only.
“Breakdown for the month of October includes and is not limited to the following: 263 AK47 rifles, 81 locally fabricated guns, 91 dane guns, 76 pump action guns, 5,683 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 1,944 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 642 cartridges, 160 assorted arms and 1,526 assorted ammunitions. Others are 3,226,645 litres of stolen crude oil, 763,860 litres of illegally refined AGO and 12,690 litres of PMS amongst other item.
