Military hardware: Command Engineering Depot builds eight additional MRAPS

Sola Ojo, Kaduna

In it efforts to provide military hardware for the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Command Engineering Depot of the Nigerian Army has successfully built right additional Mines Resistant Ambush Protective Vehicles, (MRAPS) and other hardware to augment what is on ground.

This was unveiled at the Depot’s workshop in Kaduna on Thursday when Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai who was represented by the Chief of Training and Operations of the Nigerian Army, Major General Nuhu Angbazo took the tour of the military establishment.

With this development, the Nigerian Army was gradually meeting some of its basic military requirements locally in the areas of armaments, lift capability, hard skin vehicles and tanks as well as troops’ carrying vehicles.

The production, retrofitting, refurbishment and repairs of different military hardwares came to the fore due to the interest of the chief of Army Staff to meet the military hardware of the Armed Forces

Already, Conqueror Mines Resistant Ambush Protective Vehicles, (MRAPS) retrofitting and repairs of different guns and tanks have so far been manufactured, refurbished and inducted into the North East and North West Theatres of Operation in Borno, Yobe, katsina and Zamfara States.

While at the depot, a lot of weapons repairs and retrofitting and repairs of anti aircraft guns, General purposes machine guns and browning machine guns are on going, and where inspected by the Chief of Training and Operations of the Nigerian Army.

The Commander of the Command Engineering Depot, Major General S Araoye said, “here we manufacture MRAPS, we produce different spare parts and are also at the final stages of coming out with unmanned vehicles to traverse difficult terrains and detect Improvised Explosives Devices.

“All projects at the Depot are fully authorized and funded by the Chief of Army Staff and with precision equipment like laser cutter, the productions can be sped up at the Depot because all our researches are guided by FG policies”, he added.

Also inspected at the Depot were the newly constructed quarters for officers and men of the depot.