In a lightning surge of operations across multiple states, the Nigerian Army has delivered crushing blows to terrorists, kidnappers and armed criminals, killing six fighters, freeing nine abducted citizens and seizing a large arsenal of weapons in just three days.
Military spokesmen described the coordinated offensives, running from 2 to 4 December, as “relentless and highly effective,” with troops maintaining round-the-clock pressure on criminal networks in the North-East, North-West, North-Central and South-South regions.
“Within 72 hours our soldiers turned the tables on these criminals,” Major-General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of Army Public Relations, said on Friday.
“Six terrorists were sent to their graves, nine innocent Nigerians walked free, and we ripped away the tools they use to terrorise communities.”
In Borno State, soldiers from 222 Battalion ambushed an ISWAP/JAS crossing point at Shettimari, neutralising all six terrorists on the spot and recovering a fully loaded AK-47 magazine.
Further south in the Bama axis, clearance teams destroyed terrorist hideouts and seized another AK-47 rifle along with magazines and live rounds.
A dramatic rescue unfolded in Cross River State when troops of 13 Brigade blocked militants attempting to smuggle four kidnapped victims across the border into Cameroon.
After a fierce exchange of fire, every hostage was freed unharmed and the abductors fled into the bush.
Across the North-West and North-Central, the dragnet tightened. Security forces arrested 18 suspects, including a roaming “terrorist doctor” who travelled between states to treat wounded fighters, a key collaborator in Kano, and several kidnap kingpins in Plateau and Kaduna.
Troops also recovered belts of PKT machine-gun rounds, military-style clothing, solar chargers, walkie-talkies and bundles of hard drugs.
In one notable arrest in Taraba State, authorities detained a serving soldier suspected of leaking information to insurgents.
Weapons seized during the three-day push include several AK-47 rifles, a pump-action shotgun, locally made Dane guns, pistols, dozens of magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and over a dozen motorcycles used by criminal gangs.
General Nwachukwu praised the collaboration between the Army, Police and local communities. “This success belongs to every vigilant Nigerian who picked up the phone and passed information,” he said.
“We remain fully committed to hunting down every threat until peace returns to every village and every home.”
The Nigerian Army has once again called on citizens to stay alert and report suspicious movements, stressing that public support remains the backbone of the fight against terrorism and violent crime.