The military during various operations across the country in 2023 killed a total of 6,886 terrorists and other criminal elements.
Furthermore, a sum of 6,970 suspects was apprehended, and 4,488 abducted citizens were successfully rescued nationwide.
Maj-Gen Buba Edward, the Director of Defence Media Operations, shared these details during a briefing in Abuja on Friday, providing insights into the troops’ activities across the country in 2023.
He highlighted that the troops’ endeavors throughout the year resulted in the retrieval of 100 million litres of stolen crude oil and 60 million litres of diesel.
Buba said, ‘’During the period, troops neutralised 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.
“Additionally, 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.”
Providing an overview of the challenges observed in 2023, Buba highlighted that top threats included banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, oil theft, secessionist agitations, and farmers-herders clashes.
He emphasized that the dynamics of these threats were distinctly shaped by geopolitical considerations, with some issues crossing regional boundaries.
Buba further pointed out that kidnapping, armed robbery, communal clashes, and cattle rustling were prevalent across all six geopolitical zones.
He said, “The predominant threat in the North-Central and North-West 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 region.
“The major threat in the South-East and South-West was the secessionist agitations of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and the Yoruba Nation respectively.”
“The South-South 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 six geopolitical zones.”
Buba said the proliferation of small arms which came into the country as a result of the porous borders as well as local fabrication of arms led to the increase in the crime rate in 2023.
“It is pertinent to point out that most security threats in the country were fuelled 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,” he said.
“The distance between some of these villages and troops’ locations is over 90 kilometres and sometimes difficult to access because of the rugged terrain which is mostly inaccessible to vehicles. Thus, affecting the reaction time to incidents, except when there is credible intelligence before the attack.
“On the night of 23 December 2023, over 100 marauding armed militant herders suspected to be mercenaries, carried out a series of unprovoked attacks from multiple fronts on Kambarpeli village in the Bokkos LGA of Plateau State while the locals were asleep. The militants unleashed mayhem on the villagers before the arrival of troops to the location.
“Similarly, on 24 December 2023, at about 1900 hrs, troops received a total of 36 distress calls from diverse locations simultaneously. The distress calls reported a series of coordinated attacks by armed militant herders on isolated villages in Bokkos and part of Barkin Ladi LGAs of Plateau State.
“Troops responded to the calls and were able to intervene in 19 villages forcing the militants to withdraw. Unfortunately, the havoc had been committed before troops arrived at the other villages, “ he noted.
In response to the letters notifying residents of a potential attack, Buba vowed that such an incident would never occur again in the state.
He said, “Attacks on Plateau will never repeat itself. We have put modalities in place to ensure that whatever limited us the last time that did not allow us to get to some of these locations on time has been eliminated. We are aware of the letters and we are doing something. We are seriously going after those who perpetrated the crime.”