The operational activities of the troops within the week have resulted in the killing of 80 terrorists, while 304 of them were arrested even as military high command remained sober of killing of innocent civilians in Kaduna.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba made the disclosure while briefing newsmen on ongoing military operations in different parts of the country in Abuja.

General Buba said that “troops also arrested 152 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 44 kidnapped hostages”.

He added that in the Southern part of the country, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of N347, 173,500.00 only.

Furthermore, troops recovered 112 assorted weapons and 898 assorted ammunition. The breakdown is as follows: 2 GPMG, one HK21 gun, 14 AK47 rifles, 8 pump action guns, 4 locally fabricated rifles, 8 locally made pistols, 5 Dane guns, 239 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 431 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 4 rounds of 9mm ammo, 52 live cartridges.

Others are 5 magazines loaded with 128 rounds of 7.62mm special, 6 vehicles, 28 mobile phones, 12 motorcycles, one laptop and the sum of N782,790.00 amongst other items.

According to him, troops in the Niger Delta area destroyed 8 dugout pits, 11 boats, 46 storage tanks, 7 vehicles, 84 cooking ovens, 356 drums, one outboard engine, one pumping machine and 20 illegal refining sites.

Troops recovered 81,000 litres of stolen crude oil, 239,500 litres of illegally refined AGO, 5,000 litres of DPK and 10,500 litres of PMS.

“The Armed Forces is very concerned about the issues of civilian casualties in operations, a situation which it views as tragic and unwanted. The military is determined to deal with the situation properly and make improvements from our experiences”, he said.

The Military will continue to take great measures to prevent civilian casualties, protecting civilians remains a vital part of their operations to promote greater security for all Nigerians.

A minute silence was observed for officers who lost their lives in defending their fatherland and those who lost their lives to the mishap that occurred in Kaduna as a result of a drone strike.

“The Military stands with all those grieving as a result of the drone strike and express our heartfelt condolences as a force over the losses as they pray for eternal peace for their souls”, the Director said.

Meanwhile, the incident is being investigated and the outcome of the investigation would go a long way in identifying areas of improvement to forestall future occurrences.

Responding to questions from newsmen on the mishap that occurred in Kaduna as a result of a drone strike, the Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba assured that the Military will make an improvement in their operations and that such an incident will not happen again.

He admitted that no fewer than 81 persons were killed in Kaduna bombing, while 70 injured in the incident are still hospitalised.

He added that plans are in place to avert such occurrences in future.

According to Buba, “There will be need for protocols, there will be need for processes to be improved upon to ensure that in future we have near zero occurrences.

“About the casualties, we heard from the leader of the community, he said it is close to 80. For those receiving treatment in the hospital, the Doctor said they are 70. So, 81 was killed and 71 hospitalised. ”

General Buba also encouraged Nigerians to know something and say something and the Military will do something.