The House of Representatives has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to provide and release N3 billion for the take off of local production of firearms and ammunition through collaboration between the Defence Industries Corporation (DICON) and National Metallurgical Development Center (NMDC).
The call was made after adoption of a motion moved by Rep. Abdullahi Ibrahim Halims during plenary on Monday.
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Presenting the motion, he said, some efforts by the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to import arms and ammunitions from some western countries is being delayed or rejected.
“To me this is a clarion call for us to look inwards with the view to harness our abundant human and material resources to commence full local production of arms and ammunitions to meet our immediate needs and further drive our local contents initiative,” he said.
He reminded that, DICON had through the local content initiative produced a military vehicle called Ezeugwu MRAP (Mine Resistance Ambush Protected) which was commissioned by Mr President sometimes ago.
“And today it is been deployed in the battlefield in Borno state with confirmed efficacy and preference is been given to it by our soldiers compared to the imported version due it’s efficiency. (the cost far less than the imported version),” he added.
According to him, there is an existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) between DICON and NMDC on the objective of producing military equipment, arms and ammunitions.
“The benefits accruable to our country through this initiative will be enormous and indeed unquantifiable. Among which are – boost research and promote self-reliance in the local production of armory, weapons and other military equipment, conservation of foreign exchange, wealth creation and employment Opportunities for our teaming youths, aid our security agencies to effectively combat crimes and criminality and many other benefits too numerous to mention,” he added.
The House also mandated its committee on defence to coordinate the agencies of government involved while the committee on legislative compliance ensures compliance.
