Troops eliminated more than 40 insurgents and freed no fewer than 72 abducted Nigerians during nationwide sweeps between 3 and 9 April, the military high command announced on Friday in Abuja. Defence Media Operations director Michael Onoja told reporters that soldiers also smashed illegal refineries, blocked planned raids and severed terrorist supply chains across every region. In Borno, Operation Hadin Kai beat back simultaneous assaults on Dikwa and Benisheikh with artillery and mortar fire, killing one fighter in Gwoza and seizing arms, but lost four personnel including brigade commander O.O. Braimah in the Benisheikh clash. Operation Fansan Yamma troops rescued 49 captives, among them infants, in Zamfara and arrested alleged aides of kingpin Ado Aleiro, while similar actions in Katsina and Kaduna foiled bandit raids. In Plateau, Operation Enduring Peace troops killed ten gunmen, freed 21 hostages and razed camps linked to rustling and killings that spilled into Benue. Operation Udo Ka units recovered IEDs and nabbed suspected IPOB/ESN backers in Abia and Anambra, and a joint team in Imo destroyed a major camp. Operation Delta Safe troops intercepted stolen fuel, dismantled bunkering sites in Delta and Rivers and recovered ransom cash during rescue missions. Chief of Defence Staff Olufemi Oluyede praised the fallen and pledged sustained offensives.
The military's announcement that it lost a brigade commander in Benisheikh while claiming broad success elsewhere exposes the uneven reality of Nigeria's counter-insurgency: senior officers are still dying in theatres the government insists are stabilising. Plateau recorded ten dead insurgents in a single encounter, yet rural communities there continue to endure nightly raids; the disconnect suggests the army is fighting skirmishes while the enemy still controls the hinterland. For farming families in Benue and Plateau, the promise of rescued cattle and razed camps offers little comfort if they must still abandon harvests before sundown; the 21 hostages freed in Plateau are a fraction of those snatched this year, and every ransom recovered implies another was quietly paid. The pattern is familiar: press releases tally neutralised bandits, but court convictions remain scarce, so commanders recycle fighters while grieving parents bury soldiers.
