A leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) was allegedly taken into custody in Bauchi state by Nigerian military and Department of State Service (DSS) troops, according to the Defence Headquarters (DHQ).
It claimed that on November 29, at Tarum Village, which is outside of Bauchi Metropolis, the ISWAP leader was taken into custody by the military during a sting operation.
The ISWAP leader oversaw the North Central and North West zones, according to the DHQ, though it withheld the leader's identity.
This was revealed in a statement released by Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations, on Friday, December 1.
The military high command stated that troops were "targeting the leadership of terrorist groups to ensure they pose no further threat to the safety and security of citizens," and this included the arrest of the ISWAP leader.
According to Buba, continuous military operations throughout the nation have weakened and destroyed the fighting capability of terrorists and other criminal elements.
He said: “The leadership of these groups remain the prime targets of ongoing operations. Accordingly, the armed forces remains determinate to destroy the terrorists, insurgents and violent extremist groups in the country and degrading their military capability,” Buba said.
The defence spokesperson said airstrikes by Nigerian Air Force (NAF’) aircrafts have destroyed several enclaves of terrorist leaders in the North West and North Central zones in the past week.
Buba said:“The operations of the week in focus resulted in 52 neutralized terrorists, while 204 of them were arrested.
“Troops also arrested 58 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 234 kidnapped hostages.
“In the South South zone, troops recovered 267,700 litres of stolen crude oil, 567,700 litres of illegally refined diesel and 5,000 litres of kerosene.
“Troops destroyed 7 dugout pits, 25 boats, 47 storage tanks, 5 vehicles, 141 cooking ovens, one pumping machine, one outboard engine, one tricycle, one speedboat, one tugboat and 51 illegal refining sites.”
Thirty(30) AK-47 rifles, two Josef Magnum pump action guns, one double barrel gun, two single barrel guns, 12 locally made pistols, 13 Dane guns, one hand grenade, nine locally made rifles, three RPG chargers, and two locally made hand grenades were among the 46 different weapons and 148 distinct kinds of ammunition that the troops recovered, according to a spokesperson for the defense department.
Buba claims that there are additional items totaling N1,582,690.00, along with 120 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 364 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 54 live cartridges, 11 rounds of empty cases of 7.62mm special ammo, 32 magazines, 34 vehicles, 64 mobile phones, and 47 motorcycles.
