Nigeria’s Banditry And Terrorism Must Soon Come To A Stop, Says Minister Of Defence

The Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakkar, said on Thursday that the Nigerian military was eager to end the saga of terrorism and banditry as soon as possible and return the country to normalcy.

The Minister, who was accompanied by his Minister of State, Mattawale, at a ministerial briefing to mark the one-year anniversary of the Tinubu administration, pointed out that the military had dealt a lethal blow to bandits and terrorists in the last one year.

He boasted that the military was deploying more technologies to track and destroy terrorists and bandits before they can attack in any part of the country and was determined to win the war against the enemies of Nigeria.

The minister listed top bandit commanders eliminated by the military under the Tinubu administration as: KACHALLA ALHAJI DAYI, KACHALLA BALEJO, ALI KAWAJE MADADA, KACHALLA DOGO GUDALE, HARUNA ISYA BODERI, YALLO NAGOSHI MADADA, MAZA BARUME MADARO, MAIYARA MADACI, MAI KUSA KATSINA, SANI DANGOTE, LAMO SAUDE and ABU BILAL MANUKI.

The minister pointed out that during the same period, the military recovered 61 High frequency radio, 223 vehicles and 363 motorcycles and 551 mobile phones from terrorists and bandits in many operations.

At the same time, the military in many joint operation, rescued no fewer than 245 kidnapped victims.

In the Niger Delta region, the minister said the joint operations of the military led to the destruction of major equipment and facilities that aid and abet oil theft.

He said the said the operations also led to the prevention of theft valued at N91.2 billion.

Answering reporters’ questions, the minister said: “We will end terrorism and banditry in Nigeria soon. Those who willingly surrender, will be saved but those who refuse to surrender will be crushed.

“We are deploying technology to enable us to identify terrorists and bandits and destroy them before they can attack anyone. We must end this madness in no distant time,” Abubakar vowed.