by Akan Ido

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Saturday in Abuja said that troops, operating in the North-East, have captured a massive armoury with arms and ammunition belonging to insurgents.

This information is contained in a statement signed by Maj-.Gen. Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information/Coordinator of the Joint Information Centre Counter Terrorism Campaign.

Olukolade said that a dump of the terrorists was sighted in one of the camps, around the  Lake Chad area, that fell on Friday night in the ongoing counter terrorism operations.

He said the large quantities of weapons recovered in the raid were still being evacuated from the scene of the night raid where several terrorists also were killed.

“ Similar operations took place in other camps, in coordination with the troops of Multi-National Joint Task Force.

“These camps are located on the outskirts of Duguri, Polkime, Malafatori and other locations around the fringes of Lake Chad.

“Substantial money in different currencies and denominations were also recovered from the camps, ‘’ he said.

Olukolade said that seven terrorists were captured in the operation during which a soldier died while five were wounded.

He also said that troops conducting ‘Cordon and Search’ for remnants of the terrorists, who attacked Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri on Friday, also had an encounter with some of the surviving terrorists.

According to him, the encounter was in the general area of Kayamla and Alu Dam on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

“More of the terrorists have been killed and arrested in the ongoing encounters.

“Those captured in the encounter are providing useful information towards the discovery of other hideouts of the daring terrorists.

“ It has been revealed that the terrorists are now desperate to either free or kill the ones being detained with a view to averting or preventing further revelations about their operations and hideouts as this has been frustrating their plans lately,” he added.

The Coordinator said more bodies of fleeing terrorists have also been discovered along the routes of their escape.

He said troops’ morale and fighting spirit have been further boosted by the outcome of the operations so far.