A notorious terrorist commander in the North Central region of the country, Usman Maisaje, has been arrested by troops who also neutralised 96 and nabbed 227 others in a fierce one-week military raid.
 
However, suspected terrorists on Friday killed two persons, including a security operative attached to the Katsina State Government-owned security outfit, Community Watch Corps (KSCWC) in Sabuwa Local Council of the state.
 
The incident, which occurred in the wee hours of Friday, at about 2a.m at Dan Auta village, also saw the abduction of 13 persons, among whom were women and children.
 
Spokesman of Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major General Edward Buba, who disclosed the military exploits, said troops are actively disrupting the operational capabilities of terrorists through ongoing operations across the country.
 
He also disclosed that troops eliminated five IPOB/ ESN terrorist leaders during the week, adding that troops in the North Central operational theatre arrested Maisaje. He added: “The arrested terrorist commander is a close associate of a wanted high profile terrorist leader known as Kachalla Boka. The arrest has been rewarding in intelligence value as he is cooperating and providing troops with much needed intelligence for further operations. 
 
“Meanwhile, during the week under review, troops neutralised 96 and arrested 227 persons. Troops also arrested 45 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 157 kidnapped hostages. In the South South, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of N712,065,450.00 only.
 
“Furthermore, troops recovered 71 assorted weapons and 1,463 assorted ammunition. The breakdown is as follows: 50 AK47 rifles, 16 fabricated rifles, five dane guns, five pump action guns, five locally made pistols, one revolver pistol and 16 AK47 magazines.
 
“Others are: 784 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 403 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 164 rounds 7.62 x 39mm ammo, 53 rounds of 9mm ammo, 67 live cartridges, one baofeng radio, 19 vehicles, 23 motorcycles, 35 mobile phones and the sum of N4,087,630.00 and 46,000 cfa only, among other items.”

“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed four dugout pits, 48 boats, 52 drums and 38 storage tanks. Other items recovered include 55 cooking ovens, two speedboats, one tricycle, six mobile phones, six vehicles and 60 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 712,535 litres of stolen crude oil and 76,800 litres of illegally refined AGO.”
 
Buba said the military would not relent on its plan to kill terrorists and destroy the infrastructure that support them.
 
“We will increasingly degrade the terrorist military capability and effectiveness through our operations,” he noted. The Guardian learnt that one of the abducted victims in Katsina was the Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the area, who sources simply identified as Alhaji Imamu.
 
In addition to those killed, it was gathered that six persons sustained injuries, some of whom are currently receiving treatment at the primary healthcare centre in the area.
  
The terrorists were said to have stormed the community in their numbers, riding on motorcycles and wielding automatic rifles. They were said to have met some resistance from members of the KSCWC, as well as local vigilance groups, but the large number of terrorists overwhelmed the residents’ resistance.
 
It was gathered that the security operative lost his life while trying to protect the residents from the attack, while the second deceased person was said to have been shot after resisting abduction.
 
Spokesperson for the police command in the state, ASP Abubakar Aliyu, did not immediately respond to calls put across to his mobile number as at the time of filing this report.