The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has revealed that troops killed 481 terrorists, arrested 741 others and rescued 492 hostages in October.

Making the revelations on Thursday, the director of defence media operations, Major General Edward Buba, said troops recovered 480 weapons and 9,026 assorted ammunition.

He warned terrorists that they cannot match the military might; hence, they should surrender or face the wrath of the Armed Forces.

“Truly, the terrorists know that they cannot match our military strength. The options open to them are to surrender or be killed on the battlefield. Accordingly, some terrorist leaders, commanders and combatants have indicated (they are ready to) surrender. We are opening a surrendering corridor for that purpose.”

He said troops recovered stolen products worth N3,896,400.960.00.

He gave a breakdown of the recovered weapons to include 263 AK47 rifles, 81 locally fabricated guns, 91 Dane guns, 76 pump-action guns, 5,683 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 1,944 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 642 cartridges, 160 assorted arms, and 1,526 assorted ammunition.

Others are 3,226,645 litres of stolen crude oil, 763,860 litres of illegally refined AGO, and 12,690 litres of PMS.

He assured that while the armed forces mourn the tragic passing away of the COAS, Lt Gen T.A Lagbaja, “We will not allow his passing to derail our focus to destroy the terrorists.”

He said the armed forces are not demoralized by General Lagbaja’s death but instead inspired by his actions on the battlefield as a war commander and his strong desire to defeat the terrorists to end the war.

He reiterated that the military will continue to work decisively to “stop the insecurity in the nation and ensure the safety of citizens,” adding that the armed forces was in a good and strong position to win this war.