Nigeria military says dozens of militia group leaders killed over past three months

PHOTO CAPTION: Members of Nigeria Armed Forces move together to secure a rally point during Flintlock in Volta, Ghana, March 10, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Brock via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

By Ope Adetayo

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's military has killed dozens of leaders of armed militia groups and hundreds of fighters across the country following a renewed offensive in the third quarter of the year, a spokesperson said on Thursday.

Nigeria faces widespread insecurity including a 15-year Islamist insurgency in its northeast, separatist violence in the southeast, rampant oil theft in the Niger River delta and kidnapping for ransom by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, in the northwest.

Military spokesperson Major-General Edward Buba said "troops offensive actions culminated in the neutralization of 65 notable terrorist leaders, commanders and combatants across all theaters of operations."

"Overall, in the third quarter of this year, troops neutralized 1,937 terrorists, arrested 2,782 suspected terrorists and other criminal elements as well as rescued 1,854 hostages," Buba said in a statement.

The fatalities include members of Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, and different amorphous bandit groups. Among those killed was Halilu Sububu, who was declared wanted by the military in 2022 with a bounty of five million naira, Buba said.

Earlier in September, Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu ordered the minister of defense and top military chiefs to relocate to the northwestern Sokoto, one of the worst-hit states, to combat insecurity.

Since then, the military has stepped up actions against armed groups intensifying air bombardment and land operations.



(Reporting by Ope Adetayo; Editing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Bill Berkrot)