The Nigerian army has placed an order for locally-made and recently unveiled Ezugwu armored personnel carriers for counter-terrorism/insurgency missions.
The Nigerian Army on 12 November announced that it had formalized an agreement with Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and the Command Engineering Depot on the mass production of the Ezugwu.
The deal is in line with Nigeria’s recent pledge to reduce reliance on foreign countries for their security especially for basic requirements in the areas of light weapons, armored personnel carriers, and infantry equipment.
The Director-General of DICON said that the first batch of ten vehicles in production at its factory in Kaduna would be delivered in December 2019. The Nigerian Army apparently plans to acquire 130 Ezugwu vehicles.
The Ezugwu has been described as mine-protected, ambush resistant armored vehicle and is armored against small arms fire and using flat-bottom armor technology. Additionally, the vehicle’s hull can withstand a 7 kg TNT explosion whilst each wheel can withstand a 12 kg TNT explosion.
