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Nigeria to boost arms production against Boko Haram

August 8, 2015

Nigeria's overdependence on military equipment from abroad is "unacceptable," according to president Buhari. The army has long complained that the lack of weapons is harming their fight against Boko Haram Islamists.

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Nigeria Poster von Präsident Mohammadu Buhari vor Militär
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Utomi Ekpei

President Muhammadu Buhari instructed the Defense Ministry to create "a modest military industrial complex," his office said in a statement on Friday.

"We must evolve viable mechanisms for near-self-sufficiency in military equipment and logistics production complemented only by very advanced foreign technologies," Buhari said in his speech at the graduation ceremony of the National Defense College in Abuja.

The proposed military complex would ramp up local production of weapons for the troops of the oil-rich African nation, who are fighting the Boko Haram insurgency.

Specifically, Buhari urged officials and industry leaders to "re-engineer" the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), which was set up in 1964. At present, DICON is used mainly for tool-making and other civilian purposes.

Urging for US weapons

Buhari took office on May 29, after ruling Nigeria as a military strongman between 1983 and 1985. During the campaign, he vowed to defeat the Islamist insurgency in the country's northeast, following a series of failures by his predecessor.

The six-year fight against Boko Haram militants has so far left 15,000 dead, and at least 1.5 million displaced.

Buhari visited the US in July, and urged American lawmakers to send more weapons. However, the arms deliveries from the US are limited by the so-called Leahy Law, which prohibits sales to armies suspected of human rights abuses.

Previously, Amnesty International announced there was sufficient evidence to investigate senior Nigerian officers for war crimes.

A group of US congressmen visited the country earlier this week, saying that Washington could lift its weapons ban if Abuja improved its human rights record.

dj/bw (Reuters, AFP)