A total of 974 terrorists were gunned down in different parts of Nigeria in February as the Nigerian Armed Forces maintained its aggressive posture against terrorists.
Defence Headquarters spokesman Major General Edward Buba said on Thursday that among the slain terrorists were three top commanders of the Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP jihadists called Abacha, Bakura, and Babangida.
The trio along with 22 of their fighters were killed in a lethal airstrike after they were tracked to Arinna Woje, a remote village in Marte LGA of Borno State on 19 February.
A kidnap kingpin in Rivers State, Southern Nigeria, David Okpolowu, alias “2 Baba” was also killed in a military airstrike.
In the North East, Buba said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai killed 242 terrorists, arrested 57 suspected terrorists, and rescued 42 hostages.
In the North Central, the troops of Operation Safe Haven eliminated 31 terrorists, apprehended 187 suspects and rescued 19 hostages while the troops of Operation Whirl Stroke eliminated 100 terrorists, apprehended 67 suspects and rescued 53 hostages.
In the North West, he said the troops of Operation Hadarin Daji killed 345 terrorists, apprehended 80 suspects and rescued 289 hostages in the month. He added that the troops of Operation Whirl Punch killed 150 terrorists, apprehended 161 suspects, and rescued 44 hostages.
In the South-South, Buba said troops of Operation Delta Safe apprehended 359 suspected oil thieves and impounded 8.9 million litres of crude oil, 1.06 million litres of AGO, 18,950 litres of DPK and 45,940 litres of petrol.
In the South-East, the defence spokesman said troops of Operation UDO KA killed 106 terrorists, apprehended 69 suspects and rescued 19 hostages.
During the operations, the troops recovered 1,573 assorted weapons, 23,345 assorted arms and ammunition within the month.
He listed the recovered weapons to include 640 AK-47 rifles, 248 locally fabricated guns, 93 pump-action guns, 168 Dane guns, 15,120 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 6,102 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 512 rounds of 9mm and 2,132 live cartridges.
The military also apprehended 621 others while rescuing 466 abducted persons, and 1,157 Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist fighters and their families surrendered, according to Buba.
Ezinwanne Onwuka, senior staff reporter and columnist with WAP is a Nigerian-based writer and content developer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her interests include reading, writing, researching and graphic designing.
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