Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru has disclosed that no fewer than 9,300 terrorists and bandits have been killed since Chief Bola Tinubu assumed office about a year ago.
Speaking during a sectoral ministerial briefing in Abuja on Thursday, Badaru updated Nigerians on the activities and performance of his ministry.
He revealed that 1,437 suspected criminals had been arrested, and 363 were killed by the military last year in efforts to boost oil production.
The minister attributed these achievements to the improved synergy among the three services of the armed forces—Navy, Army, and Air Force—as well as other security agencies.
Additionally, the collaboration with the office of the National Security Adviser, the police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and other security agencies has been significant.
Badaru stated, “The Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, and the Chief of Air Staff are working together as against what it used to be. That has led to productivity and efficiency in their operations.
“In addition to this, we have close collaboration with the office of the National Security Adviser, the police, the NSCDC, and all other security agencies.”
The minister revealed that over 4,000 assorted weapons were recovered from the criminal gangs, adding that “most of the illegal refineries are down” as a result of the ongoing operations against oil theft.
“This (the synergy) has translated to tremendous progress in the last year. Because of the synergy, we were able to neutralise more than 9,300 bandits and insurgents; about 7,000 were arrested while we rescued 4,641 kidnapped victims in just one year,” the minister announced.
“We have also recovered 4,882 assorted weapons and 83,900 assorted ammunition in just one year. Among those that we naturalised are bandits that you hear. We have neutralised not less than 20 bandit leaders that command armies of insurgents and terrorists in just one year,” he added.
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