DHQ declares war on native doctors
By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), has declared war on native doctors that help terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, secessionist fighters and other criminal elements, operating across the federation to accomplish their evil enterprise.
The Military High Command, also disclosed that the troops’ operations in the last week, resulted in the killing of no fewer than 50 terrorists and the arrest of 114 others.
It is a known secret that a few evil native doctors provide spiritual cover for terrorists and criminals, by preparing charms that assist them in carrying out their dastard acts on innocent citizens and the country.
The Director, of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, said this while, responding to a question on the destruction of a shrine in the southeast, which served as a haven for criminals and secessionist agitators.
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This is, as he further disclosed that troops discovered and destroyed 53 illegal refining sites, as well as recovered 983,350 litres of stolen crude oil, 144,980 litres of illegally refined AGO and 71,650 litres of DPK.
He said that the military will go all out against them wherever they may be located across the federation, saying that the native doctor phenomenon is not restricted to the southeast alone.
Noting that he will not disclose operational strategy to the press, General Buba said that troops will make all the identified hideouts of these criminals uninhabitable for them.
He noted that the military will ensure that there is no hiding place for arm-bearing non-state actors.
Briefing the media on the operational activities of the Nigerian military and other security agencies in the past week, General Buba said: “The armed forces are constantly restrategizing and modifying its operations to overcome the changes in tactics of the extremists operating across the country. Accordingly, the ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations are designed to ensure that uncertainty is replaced with certainty. Among the central issues on the ground, in terms of setting security conditions and overcoming instability are the safe havens of some of these violent extremist groups that have existed for many years. These safe havens in effect provided a support base for insurgent activities. For instance, these safe havens provide the flow of funding, material, weapons, fighters, command and control that supports terrorism and insurgency confronting us. There are safe havens spread across various theatres ranging from the tumbuns in the NE to other locations such as national parks, game reserves and forests across the country. The military has identified several of these safe havens and operations are targeted towards ensuring that they are completely dismantled”.
He said that one of the safe havens in Aku Forest in Okigwe LGA of Imo State in the SE was invaded and troops found unspeakable and unprintable activities going on in the camp.
These extremists, he said are cannibals feasting on fellow humans and slaughtering them for other devilish acts.
He added that troops also arrested 19 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 49 kidnapped hostages.
Troops, he said, denied oil theft of the estimated sum of Nine Hundred and Sixty Eight Million One Hundred and Sixty Thousand Fifty Naira, only.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 54 dugout pits, 66 boats, 138 storage tanks, 253 cooking ovens, two pumping machines, eight speedboats, 17 hoses, 18 drums, two cylinders and 53 illegal refining sites. It is clear that some of the safe havens from which these insurgents and terrorists operate often extend across the borders with other countries, thereby making it a regional issue. Nevertheless, the objective of ongoing operations is to ensure these safe havens are destroyed within the shores of the country,” he said.
The military, he concluded, will continue to fine-tune its operations to ensure maximum protection of citizens across the country.
