By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba on Thursday urged media practitioners not to buy into propaganda being churned out by bandits and terrorists.
He gave the advise while giving Annual Review of Joint Task Force Operational Activities from January to December 2024 in Abuja.
He said the Christmas Day bombing of the Lakurawas terrorist group enclaves and killing of their collaborators rattled the terrorist.
“This is what I will say. The first casualty of war is the truth. It is always the first casualty. So it shouldn’t be surprising when terrorists or their collaborators are saying things contrary to what really happened, to what we say.
“It will be insulting to the military to try to work against theirs. Please don’t give in to terrorist propaganda. They will not, and they are not happy that we have bombed them, destroying their ammunition and logistics dumps. Please don’t give in to terrorist propaganda. This is a Nigerian war for Nigerians”
Gen. Buba declared that wanted notorious terrorist commander, Bello Turji, who recently threatened to attack some communities in Zamfara State unless his brother and others arrested by troops are released, is a dead man walking (corpse).
“From January till date, 31st December 2024, over 1,000 terrorist leaders and commanders as well as their replacements have been eliminated in our operations. We assure you that a similar fate awaits others, including Bello Turji”.
“Indeed, Bello Turji is merely a dead man walking. It will be insulting to try to join issues and words with a terrorist. Before him, there were other terrorists who boasted that they would deal with security forces. Today they are all taken out. We will do the same with other terrorist leaders like him.
“I am confirming to you that we have buried many of them in the battlefield because that is their date. So the remaining ones, including Bello Turji, are dead men walking.”
The DDMO said troops rescued 7,063 hostages.
Furthermore, troops recovered 8,815 weapons, 228,004 ammunition and denied the oil theft of an estimated sum of over N68 billion (N68,453,376,040.00) only.
“Troops eliminated over a thousand notable terrorist leaders, commanders and combatants among others in the course of the year.
Some of those eliminated in the course of the year include: Dutse Mainasara Idda, Mallam Saleh Umaru, Mohammed Amadu, Chinemerem (aka Bam Bam), Jeremiah Uzuoma (aka Escoba), Tochukwu Awo (aka Ojoto) and Egwuatu amongst others.
The breakdown of the recoveries are as follows: 4,332 AK47 rifles, 1,244 locally fabricated guns, 838 Dane guns, 259 pump action guns, 128,496 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 45,445 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 5,103 cartridges, 2,131 assorted arms and 29,176 assorted ammunition.
Others are: 56,223,002 litres of stolen crude oil, 9,735,836 litres of illegally refined AGO, 95,595 litres of DPK and 156,527 litres of PMS amongst other items.
According to him, troops are focused on increasingly delivering tangible benefits of their operations for the benefit of citizens.
Additionally, troops seek to continue to heighten collaboration with neighbouring countries and regional bodies in order to tackle the menace of terrorism.
He noted that the Armed Forces assured that many of what was witnessed in the outgoing year, are indicative of a major defeat of the terrorists in 2025.
“Importantly, troops on the battlefield are in high spirits, fully committed, devoted and believe in the justness of the cause.
Troops will be going the extra mile in the new year to get the job done.
“On the whole, the war is not for the armed forces alone, but for all citizens.”
The military therefore called for more citizens’ support to win the war against terrorism
