Hamidat Kelani reports – The Defence Headquarters said that Nigeria troops killed 6,886 terrorist and other criminal elements, arrested 6970 suspects and rescued 4,488 kidnapped hostages between January to December 2023.
The Director of Defence Media operations, Major General Edward Buba while addressing newsmen on behalf of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa during the end of the year briefing on troops operational activities from January to December 2023 highlighted major security threats within a year.According to him:
“The major security threats within the year 2023 were terrorism, armed banditry, kidnapping, oil theft, secessionist agitations and farmers-herders clashes.”
Director of Defence Media Operations Major General Edward Buba also disclosed that, during the period, “Troops neutralized 6,886 terrorists and other criminal elements. Troops arrested 6,970 suspects, rescued 4,488 kidnapped hostages as well as recovered 3,320 assorted weapons and 39,075 assorted ammunition.
Also on fighting against crude oil theft he said, “troops recovered 100,316,600 litres of crude oil, 60,339,426 litres of AGO, 3,465,450 litres of DPK and 3,544,990 litres of PMS.”
Buba disclosed that, “The threat dynamics were however defined along geo-political zones with some permeating across the regional lines. The predominant threat in the North Central (NC) and North West (NW) regions is armed banditry/terrorism while the Boko Haram Terrorists/Islamic State West African Province lingering insurgency remained the main threat in the North East (NE) region.
Additionally he also disclosed the areas of major threat “The major threat in the South-East (SE) and South-West (SW) was the secessionist agitations of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Yoruba Nation respectively.
“The South-South (SS) region continued to experience oil theft, cultism and youth restiveness. However, acts of criminalities such as kidnapping, armed robbery, communal clashes and cattle rustling were common across the 6 geopolitical zones.
“It is pertinent to point out that most security threats in the country were fueled by the proliferation of small arms exacerbated by the influx of illegal arms and ammunition through our porous borders and the preponderance of local arms fabrication factories in the country.
“Thus, the armed forces kinetic and non-kinetic efforts were geared towards tackling these threats in all the geo-political zones.”
Major General Edward Buba described the situation of Nigeria security he stated that , “The security situation in Year 2023 has remained fluid, complex and dynamic with the threat morphing in form and scale. This unpredictable nature of the threat and the attendant demands for stability have continued to pose significant challenges for security forces.
“Consequently, various forces have continued to evolve Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTP) to professionally respond to these threats. The armed forces has been developing the desired enablers to overcome the country’s numerous threats.”
General Buba however, noted that, the application of kinetic and non-kinetic efforts in collaboration with other Services and security agencies has continued to shape the operating environment, in which we are in a dominant position.
Conclusively, he said, “Attention was given to providing relevant resources to enhance troops’ capacity to defeat the threats. The cumulative outcome of these efforts is reflected in increased stability achieved across the various theatres of operations. Troops are in a dominant position and are winning the war.”
