From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Nigerian Army Monday inaugurated some of its locally fabricated Infantry Patrol Vehicles (IPV) to boost the counter insurgency war and other internal security operations.
The IPVs already been deployed to the north east according to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen. Tukur Buratai, would no doubt serve as motivation and boost the morale of troops as they begin the final battle to clear remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists and other criminal groups in the country.
This is coming as the Nigerian Army established a new barracks, known as Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment located at Giri, on the Shehu Musa Yaradua, Airport road, Abuja.
In his address at the occasion, Gen. Buratai, while noting that the vehicles were tested and used for fire power demonstration at the just concluded 2017 Nigerian Army Small Arms Championship (NASAC), held at the Sambisa forest in Borno, also said the vehicles could be used for long range battles as they could be mounted with General Purpose Machine Gun – GPMG and other caliber of weapon.
Buratai, who said the vehicles were locally designed and fabricated by personnel of the Nigerian A rmy after extensive research, said “The inauguration of the patrol vehicles is part of the overall strategy toward the establishment of a military industrial complex which is expected to be a major employer of labour when it takes off.’’
Inaugurating the Infantry Patrol Vehicles, and performing the ground breaking ceremony, the minister for Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, while commending the army for the initiative, said that the process of transforming the army, anchored on three pillars, capacity building, reorganization and troops welfare which began two years ago, had not been easy.
He also said that the construction of the cantonment at Giri would provide a conducive working and living accommodation for officers and soldiers in the Federal Capital Territory.