By David Torough, Abuja

The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) neutralised more than 102 terrorists and other criminal elements, arrested 345 suspects, and rescued 393 kidnapped victims across the country in July, underscoring an intensified nationwide offensive against insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and crude oil theft.

The figures were disclosed by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Michael Onoja, during the Defence Headquarters’ monthly operational briefing in Abuja on Friday.

According to the military, troops operating across the six geopolitical zones sustained coordinated land and air offensives that also led to the voluntary surrender of 57 insurgents, while 59 firearms and 1,811 rounds of ammunition were recovered from criminal groups.

In the North-East, troops of Operation Hadin Kai recorded some of the most significant gains, neutralising 54 terrorists, arresting 102 suspects, rescuing 102 kidnapped victims, and facilitating the surrender of 57 insurgents and their family members.

Among the major breakthroughs was the killing of Abu Salim al-Barnawi, described as a senior Boko Haram/ISWAP commander and propaganda chief, during an operation in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.

Operation Fansan Yamma in the North-West rescued the highest number of kidnap victims during the month, with 191 hostages freed, while 33 terrorists were neutralised and 66 suspects arrested.

Troops also foiled several mass abduction attempts and rescued dozens of civilians in Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Kano and Sokoto states.

In the North-Central, Operation Savannah Shield rescued 11 victims, neutralised eight terrorists, and arrested 18 suspects, while Operation Enduring Peace recorded 18 rescued victims, 60 arrests, and two terrorists neutralised.

Operation Whirl Stroke also rescued 24 kidnapped victims, arrested 70 suspects, and killed five terrorists across Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa and Taraba states.

The military said sustained anti-kidnapping operations in the South-South led to the rescue of 37 civilians, the arrest of three suspected terrorists, the dismantling of 18 illegal refining sites, and the recovery of more than 250,500 litres of stolen petroleum products.

Troops also intensified efforts against crude oil theft and illegal refining operations in Rivers State.

In the South-East, Operation Udo Ka arrested 26 criminal suspects and rescued 10 civilians, while recovering weapons and dismantling criminal hideouts linked to armed groups.

The Defence Headquarters also highlighted the role of the Air Component in supporting ground operations, noting that precision air strikes and surveillance missions disrupted terrorist movements in Niger State and enabled the escape of kidnapped victims during separate operations.

Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, commended troops for the month’s operational successes and praised the synergy among the Armed Forces, other security agencies and local vigilante groups.

He also applauded security personnel involved in the successful rescue of 44 pupils and teachers abducted from schools in Oyo State, stressing that the victims were freed without any concession to their abductors.

Reaffirming the military’s commitment to national security, the Defence Headquarters urged Nigerians to continue supporting security operations by providing timely and credible intelligence, assuring the public that all information received would be treated confidentially.

The Police Commander in Rivers has arrested four suspected members of a kidnapping syndicate and rescued a woman abducted from her shop in the state.

The command’s Spokesperson, Blessing Agabe, disclosed this on Thursday in Port Harcourt.

Agabe said that a white-tinted minibus allegedly used by the gang was also recovered.

She also said that the rescue followed an intelligence-led operation by operatives of the command’s Violent Crime Rescue Unit.

According to her, the victim’s husband, Ikechukwu, 35, reported the abduction on July 11.

“The woman was attending to customers at her shop when armed men stormed the premises and abducted her. The suspects forced the victim into a white-tinted minibus before fleeing the scene.

“Following the report, the command launched an intelligence-driven investigation which led operatives to the gang’s hideout.

“Four male suspects, aged between 28 and 42, were arrested at the hideout. The victim was rescued unharmed during the operation.”

Agabe added that all the four suspects have confessed to their individual roles in the crime.

The spokesperson said efforts were ongoing to apprehend two other members of the syndicate still at large and to recover the firearms used in their operations.

She urged residents to provide prompt and credible information to the police, assuring that “every useful piece of information provided will be treated with the utmost confidentiality”.

She reiterated the command’s commitment to protecting lives and property through intelligence-led policing and lawful strategies aimed at bringing criminal elements to justice.

By Elijah Oguche, Abuja

Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State have condemned the worsening State of insecurity in the state resulting in continuing wanton killings of innocent citizens, the latest of which occurred in Otukpo-Nobi, in the Benue-South Senatorial District.

They called for change of governmental leadership in the state owing to the manifest inability of Governor Hyacinth Alia to muster a serious challenge against the situation.

Speaking in Abuja while answering questions on “One Benue, One Direction Hang Out with Journalists”, A Chieftain of the APC, Hon.

Timothy Hembaor, lamented that insecurity in Benue is spiralling out of control because Governor Alia has failed to even accept that there are killings in the state, talk more of finding solutions to the crisis.

Hembaor lamented that Governor Alia had repealed the the Anti Grazing law that was in place before his elections, confiscating enforcement vehicles and converting them for commercial transportation purposes.

“We are an agricultural state. How are we going to support our farmers to turn from partisanship to become extension agricultural farmers? Is the present government willing to support farmers? Is our land safe? I tell you it is not. The Alia administration is not going about the issue of security with sincerity.

“Hostilities against our people now have grown many times more than what obtained prior to Alia becoming Governor, and it is getting worse, with the potential of going completely out of control should he be re-elected to a second term as Governor” he stated.

Also speaking, APC Legal Adviser in the Benue-South (Zone C) Barr. Napoleon Otache, lamented that the entire Zone C is under siege by Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers and bandits.

“There are active threats going on in all parts of Zone C from terrorists. Governor Alia refers to them as foreigners, so I agree. But they pose a very latent threat of terrorism, yet the governor does not treat it as such. As big an urban centre as Otukpo is, once it is 4 p.m. the town shuts down.

“The economy is crippled. People no longer go to farm in Otukpo and environs. You stay at home and wait for the worst that could happen. You can be in your house and still be killed” he lamented.

Barr. Otache criticized the governor as not showing commitment or readiness to protect lives and property in the state, noting that it is becoming obvious he lacks ideas on how to deal with the situation that has put the state under siege, pushing her citizens into poverty and hopelessness.

Calling in on the programme from Makurdi, Comrade Adams A. said to rescue Benue from the hands of insecurity, the current leadership of the state must be changed.

He explained that Governor Alia does not believe he has a security crisis, “he has denied it many times openly, while people are dying and displaced from their homes on a daily basis all over the state, so how can he proffer solutions to what he does not think exist” Adams questioned.

Stakeholders who spoke on the programme believe that the insecurity in the Benue state will get worse if the Governor Alia is re elected to a second term of office.