Nigerian Army Vehicle Manufacturing Company rolls out armoured light tactical jeep

MILITARY chiefs have unveiled a new light tactical automobile manufactured by the Nigerian Army Vehicle Manufacturing Company (Navmc) to help address the country's growing security challenges.

Of late, kidnapping has become very rife in Nigeria as armed men, mainly Fulani have taken over many of the country's motorways. They adduct passengers and hold them hostage in forest camps until ransoms are paid and if their families do not pay up, they kill them and dump their bodies in rivers.

There has also been a surge in armed banditry, particularly across northern Nigeria, with states like Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Borno among the most affected. This is all in addition to the Boko Haram insurgency that has been raging in the country since 2009, leaving the Nigerian security agencies overstretched.

Overwhelmed with the situation, the Nigerian Army has had to come up with several innovations and one of these is a new light armoured personal carrier. According to the chief of army staff Lt General Tukur Buratai, the first set of the indigenous light tactical vehicles produced by Navmc would be exhibited on July 6.

They came off production lines at the company's factory located at Rigachikun in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. General Buratai who said Navmc was collaborating with the Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria (Dicon) to produce the vehicles, added that since the 1960s, there had not been serious effort at producing military equipment locally.

General Buratai said: “The Nigeria defence complex Dicon will soon be turned around for good. This is a very good development, we are keeping to timeline and we are working on mass production of the vehicles.

“The vehicles will help us in curtailing the insecurity in the country as I know everybody is concerned about the insecurity. Unfortunately, over the years, since the 1960s, we have not made any serious headway in defence production and local defence production but I think if this one takes off as we envisage, we will be good for the nation."