The Nigerian military says dozens of militia group leaders have been killed in the past three months

Nigeria’s military has killed dozens of armed militia leaders and hundreds of fighters across the country after a renewed offensive in the third quarter of the year, a spokesman said Thursday.

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

Military spokesman Major General Edward Buba said: “The troops’ offensive actions culminated in the neutralization of 65 notable terrorist leaders, commanders and fighters in all areas of operations.”

“In total, troops neutralized 1,937 terrorists, arrested 2,782 suspected terrorists and other criminal elements and rescued 1,854 hostages in the third quarter of this year,” Buba said in a statement.

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

Earlier in September, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered the defense minister and top military leaders to move to northwestern Sokoto, one of the worst-affected states, to combat insecurity.

Since then, the military has stepped up operations against armed groups that are intensifying aerial bombardments and land operations.

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