By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), has assured Nigerians that its troops deployed to North West, and other theatres of operation, will not rest until the kidnapped hostages are rescued and reunited with their families.
The military also designated armed bandits running riot in North East, North West and North Central states as terrorist groups.
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The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), however, regretted that the terrorists are using the abducted school children as body shield against military onslaught.
Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, gave this assurance, at the biweekly briefing on operational activities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies across the federation.
He said: “As in every war, there are complexities and ours is no exception. Recently, cases of citizens being abducted in the NE, NW and NC theatres of operations were recorded. These citizens were abducted by a brutal and blood tasty group that should only be addressed as terrorist, and not bandits. I repeat, these are terrorist and not bandits. They are holding these citizens against their will and against all norms of human behaviour, and against the laws of armed conflict and any good measure in the world. No doubt, this is a difficult situation, but not one that is insurmountable.
“The hostage situation is an extremely sensitive one which unfortunately is not unprecedented in the history of the ongoing war. These hostages are being held in locations that are difficult to get to, but not out of reached. The situation is however indicative of the desperation of these terrorist to avoid troops onslaught by all means. Recall that in recent times troops have decimated several of the terrorist leaders, commander and foot soldiers and fast closing in one several others. These terrorist have exhibited cowardice by going for such soft targets to impede troops advances. I assure you that we will not rest until they are returned. Several of their leaders and commanders have been killed as a result of troops onslaught. They want to use these hostages as human shield for their survival. Nevertheless, be assured that we will not rest until the hostages are returned”.
General Buba also disclosed that the troops killed no fewer than 213 terrorists and arrested 216, within the period under review.
Noting that troops, also uncovered and destroyed 45 illegal refining sites, in the creeks of Niger Delta region, the Director, revealed that no fewer than 67 perpetrators of oil theft were arrested and 26 kidnapped hostages, rescued within the same period.
Gen. Buba said that troops denied the oil thieves, an estimated sum of One Billion Five Hundred and Fifty Eighty Million, Six Hundred and Sixty Five Thousand, Eighty Naira, only.
Troops, he added recovered 189 assorted weapons and 4,003 assorted ammunition.
According to him,”Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 150 dugout pits, 30 boats, 73 storage tanks, 209 drums and 15 vehicles. Other items recovered incl 105 cooking ovens, three pumping machines, two outboard engines, one tricycle, four motorcycles and 45 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 1,227,470 litres of stolen crude oil, 313,780 litres of illegally refined AGO and 13,000 litres of PMS”.
Giving further insights on the situation of kidnapped hostages, Gen. Buba said, the search and rescue effort was grossly affected by the none timely notification of troops of the incident.
“However, because of the sensitivity of the matter, I can not go into further details as to signs of life, location, and the different options that we have in order to get these hostages back. I can further assure that, getting these hostages back is very clearly on the top of our priorities. It is for this reason we have leveraged on our international partners for support. Accordingly, they are providing the necessary support including intelligence that is giving us the advantage in dealing with the ugly situation,” he said.
On the propaganda and misinformation by the terrorist groups, the Director said: “Importantly, as it is often said, we are at war and ugly things happen during war. During times of war, it is common place to witness propaganda, deception, misinformation, disinformation and fake news. Our situation is no different. There is therefore the need for citizens to be circumspect when they see post from these terrorist groups and their cohorts, particularly on social media. These groups feed on the attention that they receive in the media to sway the populace. We must be conscious of that and avoid being used directly or indirectly against our national interest. Of recent, these terrorist initiated a post that went viral on the attack of military vehicles. It might interest you to know that, that particular incident was reported when it occurred in Dec 2023. One soldier lost his life as a result of the attack. Afterward, troops conducted synchronised attacks killing the leader of that group and several of his foot soldiers”.
The post, he said, is clearly an act of desperation by the terrorist to conceal their weakness, stressing that overall, the military is winning the war and making life unbearable for these terrorist.
Assuring that the military will continue to degrade the terrorists each passing day, Gen Buba noted that the Armed Forces of Nigeria has seriously depleted their ranks to the extent that they are on a desperate recruitment drive, hence some of the witnessed abductions.
“The aim of the military in ongoing counterinsurgency war is the enduring defeat of terrorist groups across the country and the dismantling of their military capabilities, such that they can no longer terrorize or hurt citizens.
Accordingly, the armed forces remain focussed on achieving this aim,” he concluded.
