• Warns against attacks on military personnel by civilians
A total of 624 terrorists were killed, 1,051 others including informants and were arrested while 563 hostages were rescued in May 2024 by troop on internal operations, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has disclosed.
The Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba made the revelation while briefing journalists in Abuja where he also warned against unprovoked attacks and killings of military personnel by the civilian populace.
“The unprovoked killings of 17 personnel in Okuama in Delta State, coupled with the recent assault of unarmed personnel in Banex Plaza in Abuja is worrisome and leaves much to be desired. These occurrences are unhealthy for our national security, counterproductive and amount to self-sabotage,” Maj.-Gen. Buba said.
He affirmed that such behavior is no way to treat any human, “certainly not a military personnel that places self in harm’s way to protect citizens or to safeguard the nation.”
He added that the military has demonstrated high sense of discipline and professionalism in the face of the untoward attacks, insisting that “our professionalism must not be mistaken for weakness.”
“Indeed, we know that to win this war, we need the support of people. We also hope that the people would equally realise that they need the military to win the war to guarantee their safety.”
He warned that that these must not repeat itself as it jeopardises the nation’s common interest, stressing that, “If troops err, report them, and the military justice system will address the matter”.
He called on the citizens to as a matter of responsibility, support the military in the fight against terrorism, banditry and other sundry crimes.
Buba reiterated that the nation is at war, and citizens must realise that as they also have a responsibility by their actions and utterances to support troops to keep the morale and their fighting spirit at optimal at all times.
“Doing otherwise is unpatriotic and amounts to self-sabotage. Overall, we would continue to fight until the terrorists are defeated on the battlefield and help our nation flourish again,” he said.
The Defence spokesperson also revealed that troops in the month under review, recovered 707 assorted weapons, 16,487 assorted ammunitions and stolen crude worth N705,836,036.00.
He gave a breakdown of recovered weapons to include 411 AK47 rifles, 234 locally fabricated guns, 43 pump action guns, 231 dane guns, 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.
Others are 4,871,470 litres of stolen crude oil, 931,416 litres of illegally refined AGO and 4,480 litres of PMS amongst other item.
“The joint operational environment coupled the synergy with other security and intelligence agencies greatly assisted in the optimal performance of troops in the conduct of operations,” Maj-Gen. Buba added.
