Mohammed Shosanya
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ),has told terrorists commanders and combatants to surrender or be killed by troops of the armed forces of Nigeria in war.
The military authority also said troops have killed 481 terrorists in the month of October.
This was disclosed by the Director, Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major General Edward Buba during the biweekly media briefing on troops operational successes across the nation.
He said:”Troops have done a tremendous job of significantly dismantling the terror groups across the country, in various theatres of operations.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 terrorists.
“Truly, the terrorist knows that they cannot match our military strength. The options open to them are to surrender or be killed in the battlefield.”
He revealed that”some terrorist leaders, commanders and combatants have indicated to surrender. We are opening a surrendering corridor for that purpose.”
He also stated that, “In October 2024, troops neutralized 481 terrorists. Other details are that, troops arrested 741 persons including terrorists.Troops also rescued 492 kidnapped hostages.”
He said:”Troops recovered 480 weapons and 9,026 assorted ammunitions. Whilst they denied the oil theft of an estimated sum of close to N4bn (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.
“On the whole, even as the armed forces mourn the tragic passing away of the COAS, Lt Gen TA Lagbaja. We will not allow his passing to derail our focus to destroy the terrorists. We are rather inspired by his actions on the battlefield as a war commander as well as his strong desire to defeat the terrorist in order to end the war.”
He emphasized that the military will continue to work decisively to kill the terrorists,stop the insecurity in the nation and ensure the safety of citizens.
