The Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), a military onslaught against oil thieves in the Niger Delta region, seized 4,124, 970 litres of stolen crude in May. It said the troops also recovered, from oil thieves, 793,796 litres of diesel and 4,480 litres petrol. The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj Gen Edward Buba, announced this on Thursday, May 30, during a press briefing in Abuja.
He said troops on operations across the country killed 624 terrorists, arrested 1,051 criminals and their logistic suppliers and informants, and rescued 563 kidnap victims in the past month.
Gen. Buba said to the troops also 707 assorted weapons, 16,487 assorted ammunition.
The weapons recovered, according to the defence spokesperson, are 411 AK47 rifles, 234 locally fabricated guns, 43 pump action guns, and 231 dane guns.
He said: “the ammunition recovered are 10,782 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 4,310 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 1,623 rounds 7.62 x 54mm ammo, 1,023 rounds of 511 rounds of 9mm and 2,100 live cartridges.”
The defence spokesperson said the joint operational environment and synergy between security and intelligence agencies had “greatly assisted in the optimal performance of troops in the conduct of operations.”
“Troops are admirably making progress in the ongoing counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations across the country and will continue until the terrorists are completely decimated.
“The progress made is through the cumulative effort of killing the terrorist leaders, commanders and combatants, as well as, taking away their most important assets such as logistics, administrative and fighting capabilities. These all combine to destroy the will to fight off the terrorists and their cohorts.
“Troops have continued to receive tremendous institutional support and are receiving increasing popular support in the conduct of operations. Indeed, the level of troops’ stamina and commitment to completely destroying the terrorist remains unwavering.”