{"id":6634,"date":"2026-05-30T08:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T08:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/?p=6634"},"modified":"2026-05-30T08:52:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T08:52:04","slug":"troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Troops kill suspected terrorists, rescue 179 hostages in nationwide operations"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Defence Headquarters says troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) have neutralised several terrorists and rescued no fewer than 179 kidnapped victims between May 25 and 28.<br \/><br \/>The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Michael Onoja, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja, highlighted sustained military pressure across various theatres of operation.<br \/><br \/>Onoja said troops of Operation Hadin Kai recorded major breakthroughs in the North-East, including the neutralisation of terrorists in Taraba and Borno states, as well as the arrest of a suspected collaborator in Monguno.<br \/><br \/><br \/>He also said that the sustained offensives triggered fresh surrenders, with a family member of a terrorist fleeing the Kimbe enclave in Borno due to mounting pressure.<br \/><br \/>He further said that troops also repelled a massing of terrorists along the Bam-Buratai axis, neutralising five fighters, while four others were eliminated during an ambush in Yobe State.<br \/><br \/>He said that in the North-West, troops of Operation Fansan Yamma apprehended suspects linked to terrorist groups in Kebbi and Zamfara states, while also killing three terrorists in separate encounters.<br \/><br \/>He added that troops also rescued 31 kidnapped victims in Zamfara following an air interdiction by the Nigerian Air Force.<br \/><br \/>Onoja disclosed that troops under Operation Savannah Shield recorded a major humanitarian success with the release of 148 kidnapped victims, mostly women and children, in Niger State.<br \/><br \/>He also said that in Kaduna State, troops of Operation Enduring Peace foiled attacks, rescued victims, and neutralised a notorious kidnap kingpin identified as Idi Yaya.<br \/><br \/>\u201cSimilarly, troops of Operation Whirl Stroke in Benue intensified crackdowns on drug networks, recovering over 500 illicit substances and arresting suspects linked to distribution syndicates.<br \/><br \/>\u201cIn the South-South, troops of Operation Delta Safe, in collaboration with other security agencies, carried out clearance and ambush operations in Edo State, leading to the arrest of suspects and the neutralisation of a kidnapper.<br \/><br \/>\u201cMeanwhile, in the South-East, Operation Udo Ka troops arrested suspected IPOB\/ESN kingpins in Ebonyi State and foiled an attempted abduction of farmers in Abia State,\u201d he said.<br \/><br \/>The Defence Headquarters spokesman quoted the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, as commending the troops for their courage while reaffirming the military\u2019s commitment to ending insecurity in the country.<br \/><br \/>\u201cThe Armed Forces of Nigeria remain resolute in restoring peace and safeguarding the territorial integrity of the nation,\u201d he said.<br \/><br \/>He urged members of the public to continue providing credible intelligence to security agencies, assuring them that all information would be treated with confidentiality.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Defence Headquarters says troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) have neutralised several terrorists and rescued no fewer than 179 kidnapped victims between May 25 and 28. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Michael Onoja, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja, highlighted sustained military pressure across various theatres of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Troops kill suspected terrorists, rescue 179 hostages in nationwide operations - Security Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Troops kill suspected terrorists, rescue 179 hostages in nationwide operations\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Troops kill suspected terrorists, rescue 179 hostages in nationwide operations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Troops kill suspected terrorists, rescue 179 hostages in nationwide operations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Security Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-30T08:52:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/army-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Security Focus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Security Focus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Security Focus\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/e73d482c4e4a38b5ee8d6e08344c5145\"},\"headline\":\"Troops kill suspected terrorists, rescue 179 hostages in nationwide operations\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T08:52:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/\"},\"wordCount\":417,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/army-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.securityfocus.ng\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/troops-kill-suspected-terrorists-rescue-179-hostages-in-nationwide-operations\/\",\"name\":\"Troops kill suspected terrorists, rescue 179 hostages in nationwide operations - 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