November 14, (THEWILL) – The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said terrorists operating in the North-West were on a recruitment drive on social media for new recruits.
Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, noted that troops’ offensives against the terrorists have severely depleted ISWAP rank and file, forcing them to embark on the desperate recruitment drive.
“Troops are aware of the situation and working with other security agencies and governments to thwart the plans”, he said.
Giving an update on the onslaught against terrorists, Buba said troops within the week killed 88 terrorists, arrested 228 and rescued 181 hostages. The troops also arrested 40 suspected oil thieves and recovered stolen products worth N1,021,412,950.00.
Buba said the troops also recovered 84 assorted weapons and 2,393 assorted ammunition.
A breakdown of recovered weapons includes 34 AK47 rifles, 15 fabricated rifles, 11 Dane guns, five fabricated revolver pistols, eight locally made pistols, three pump action guns and one magnum pump action.
Others include 1,807 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 314 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 146 rounds of 7.62mm PKM ammo, 77 rounds of 9mm ammo, 49 live cartridges, 25 magazines, two baofeng radios, 16 vehicles, 35 motorcycles, 27 mobile phones and the sum of N1,851,000.00 only, amongst other items.
Meanwhile, in the Niger Delta region, troops discovered and destroyed 59 illegal refining sites, 13 crude oil cooking ovens, 20 dugout pits, 73 boats, 25 storage tanks and recovered three barges, seven speedboats, 73 drums, one tricycle, five pumping machines, three mobile phones and nine vehicles among others.
He added that troops recovered 942,420 litres of stolen crude oil, 175,075 litres of illegally refined AGO and 4,980 litres of PMS, commonly known as Petrol.
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