The Minister of Defence, Muhammad Badaru, on Thursday, said the service chiefs have increased their productivity.
He further stated that their effort had translated into laudable achievements in the last year.
Speaking at the Ministerial Sectorial Update in Abuja, Badaru noted that the synergy among the Service Chiefs and sister agencies led to the killing of over 9,300 bandits and insurgents, while 7000 had so far been arrested in the last year.
He said, “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, NSCDC, and all other security agencies.
“This 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 4641 kidnapped victims in just one year. We have also recovered 4882 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 also said no fewer than 1437 suspects had been arrested and 363 killed in the last year by the military in its efforts to boost oil production in the country.
The minister noted that as a result of the ongoing operations against oil theft, “most of the illegal refineries are down.”
Badaru said, “In our efforts to improve the production of crude oil in the country, We have been able to arrest 1437 suspects, 363 neutralised and we have freed 245 held captive in the Niger Delta region. We have destroyed 3051 dug pits, 1276 boats, and 3924 storage tanks among others. So most of the illegal refineries are down. Many vessels have also been arrested.”