Military Recovers N623m from Oil Thieves, Rescues 181 Hostages

The Nigerian military has recovered over N623m from oil thieves since the inception of 2025 and arrested 29 perpetrators in the Niger Delta region.

Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen., Eward Buba, also disclosed that troops rescued 181 kidnapped hostages from across the country.

Also, troops of the Nigerian Army killed 156 terrorists and arrested 464 persons, respectively.

Troops in the Niger Delta area destroyed 48 crude oil cooking ovens, 10 dugout pits, 56 storage tanks, and 46 illegal refining sites.

They recovered 705,294 litres of stolen crude oil, 6,865 litres of illegally refined AGO, 1,500 litres of DPK and 800 litres of petrol.

Other items recovered include 28 boats, eight pumping machines, six speedboats, three outboard engines, six drums, eight motorcycles, one mobile phone and eight vehicles.

Furthermore, troops recovered 219 assorted weapons and 2,871 assorted ammunition.

The breakdown includes one GPMG, 68 AK47 rifles, one AK56 rifle, 12 fabricated rifles, four FN rifles, four Dane guns, seven pump action guns and one foreign double barrel gun.

Others include nine fabricated IEDs, 18 FN grenades, six RPG bombs, 27 magazines, four IEDs, and making materials.

Others also include 1,618 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 676 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 16 rounds of 7.62 x 51mm ammo, 68 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 317 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm ammo, 73 rounds of 12.7mm ammo, 175 rounds of PKT ammo, one box of 12.7mm ammo, 25 live cartridges, one Baofeng radio, 10 vehicles, 42 motorcycles, and 29 mobile phones, among other items.

The military said, “Overall, the military is profoundly conscious of its role and responsibility in ending insurgency and terrorism in the nation.

“Accordingly, troops are thwarting and eliminating forms of resurgent terror attacks in the NW and NE, caused by the influx of foreign fighters from the Sahelian Region.

“Though troops might record occasional tactical setbacks, which is commonplace in any theatre of war. Our strategic objective of breaking the terrorist will to fight remains resolute and unhindered.

“Overall, citizens are urged to embrace security as everybody’s business and not that of the military. Accordingly, citizens must not compromise on security; otherwise, everyone’s security is compromised.”

Military Recovers N623m from Oil Thieves, Rescues 181 Hostages is first published on The Whistler Newspaper