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The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has disclosed that its troops have found what it described as ‘unspeakable’ and ‘unprintable’ activities of extremists who are currently operating in their safe havens in Aku forest in Okigwe LGA of Imo State.
The DHQ, which accused the militants of slaughtering and eating the flesh of victims, also disclosed that own troops in their operations in the past one week killed 50 terrorists while 114 of them were arrested.
Briefing newsmen at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, at the biweekly press briefing on troops’ operational activities across the country, the Director, Defence Media Operation (DMO), Major General Edward Buba, said, ‘These extremists are cannibals.’
According to General Buba, ‘The military has identified several of these safe havens and operations are targeted towards ensuring that they are completely dismantled.’
Recently, he said, ‘One of the safe havens in Aku forest in Okigwe LGA of Imo State in the South- East was invaded. Troops found unspeakable and unprintable activities going on in the camp. These extremists are cannibals feasting on fellow humans and slaughtering them for other devilish acts.’
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Buba also noted that 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, he stated, provides a support base for insurgent activities.
‘These safe havens provide the flow of funding, material, weapons, fighters, command and control that support terrorism and insurgency confronting us.
‘There are safe havens that spread across various theatres ranging from the Tumbuns in the North-East to other locations such as national parks, game reserves and forests across the country.’
General Buba further revealed that operations of the last one week resulted in “50 neutralised terrorists while 114 of them were arrested.
‘Troops also arrested 19 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 49 kidnapped hostages. In the South-South, troops denied oil theft of the estimated sum of N968,160,050.00 only.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 65 assorted weapons and 400 assorted ammunition. The breakdown are as follows: 25 AK47 rifles, 4 locally fabricated rifles, 4 pistols, 6 pump action guns, 12 Dane guns, 3 AK47 rifles loaded with 50 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, among others.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 54 dugout pits, 66 boats, 138 storage tanks, 253 cooking ovens, 2 pumping machines, 8 speedboat, 17 hoses, 18 drums, 2 cylinders and 53 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 983,350 litres of stolen crude oil, 144,980 litres of illegally refined AGO and 71,650 litres of DPK
“It is clear that some of the safe havens from which these insurgents and terrorists operate from 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 completely destroyed within the shores of the country.”
This is as he assured that the military will continue to fine tune its operations to ensure maximum protection of citizens and restore security across the country.
