By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday said that it had uncovered a plot by terrorists and their sympathisers to blackmail the military to stop its air and artillery bombardment of their (terrorists) enclaves across all theatres of operations in the country.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who disclosed this during the biweekly briefing on the operational activities of the Nigerian military and other security agencies across the federation, said that the plot was to depict some casualties as innocent citizens rather than cohorts of the terrorists.
He noted that it was a nation and not the military that went to war.
While stressing that the government alone could not win the war against insurgency and terrorism without the support of the populace, Buba tasked citizens and civil society organizations to also play their roles in the challenge.
He noted that troops had killed no fewer than 192 terrorists, arrested 341 persons, and rescued 62 kidnapped hostages within the period under review.
Speaking on the planned blackmail, Buba said, “It, therefore, should not be surprising that these terrorists and their sympathisers plot to blackmail the military as a result of the ongoing military air strikes.
“The plot is to depict some casualties as innocent citizens rather than cohorts of this terrorist. It is, therefore, important for the media to be wary of the antics of these terrorist groups and their sympathisers.
“Our operations have prevented these evil elements from accomplishing their strategic objectives,” he said.
He added that being a professional force, due diligence by way of Intelligence, surveillance, and recognisance is painstakingly taken to distinguish the terrorists before air strikes are conducted.
The air strikes, Buba said, had resulted in the death of several of the terrorists’ leaders and the cohorts hibernating in enclaves across the theatres of operation
The Director, Defence Media Operations, said that the military was working decisively to kill the terrorists, dismantle their networks, and create conditions whereby they would not be able to carry out acts of terrorism or harm citizens.
He noted that it was for these reasons that the armed forces would continue to hunt the leadership of the terrorist groups everywhere across the theatres of operations.
He also disclosed that a total of 122 ISWAP/JAS combatant terrorists surrendered with their family members, while troops arrested 37 perpetrators of oil theft.
Buba added that troops denied oil theft of an estimated sum of N821.24m
He said that troops also recovered 349,970 litres of stolen crude oil, 112,135 litres of illegally refined AGO, 7,560 litres of DPK, and 13,000 litres of PMS.
He further said the objective of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), was to defeat the terrorists and their cohorts by denying them the ability to continue to fight.
*10 years later, Army troops rescue a pregnant Chibok girl with three kids
Troops of the Nigerian Army deployed in the North-East have announced the rescue of Lydia Simon, a Chibok girl who had been held captive by Boko Haram terrorists for several years.
A statement from the Department of Army Public Relations, said Lydia, who was on serial number 68 among the abducted missing Chibok Secondary School girls, was rescued along with her three children by troops conducting Operation Desert Sanity III, around Ngoshe in the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.
Lydia was five months pregnant at the time of her rescue and claimed to be from Pemi Town in Chibok.
The statement added that Nigerian Army troops deployed for Counterterrorism Counter- insurgency operations in the North Central on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, successfully ambushed and neutralised three terrorists, who were on a mission to wreak havoc.
According to statistics released by parents of the abducted schoolgirls, 271 students were kidnapped on that unfortunate day but 57 girls escaped shortly after in 2014, 103 were released through the intervention of the Federal Government, 20 others were freed by the efforts of the state government but 92 students are still in captivity.
There have been many mass kidnappings of schoolchildren since the Chibok incident, attracting global outrage. From Chibok to Dapchi, Kankara, Kagara, and many others, terrorists have in the last decade seized thousands of schoolchildren in mass kidnappings. While some of the students eventually regain freedom, others have been perpetually detained in the enclaves of their abductors and sexual abusers.
