DCD Protected Mobility and its Nigerian partner Mekahog Limited have introduced the Ikri armoured personnel carrier at the recent Armoured Vehicles West Africa conference in Nigeria.
The Ikri is based on DCD Protected Mobility’s Springbuck armoured personnel carrier (APC), which has been supplied to the Nigerian police since 2006.
Franklyn Ohakim, Director of Mekahog Limited, said the Ikri has been developed to suit the tough requirements of the Nigerian Police. “The Ikri APC incorporates several new features requested by the police which made it entirely fit for purpose in this application,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted him as saying.
“As Africans, we understand the continent and the specific requirements of its people. With a solid track record of purpose-built military vehicular solutions, we are in an ideal position to respond together with Mekahog which has well-established relationships within the African defence sector,” DCD said. “The collaboration between Mekahog and DCD Protected Mobility will provide the level of sustainable local support that is required to take the defence sector to the next level in Africa.”
DCD Protected Mobility, through Mekahog, is expanding its presence in Nigeria, starting with maintenance and repair facilities and progressing to assembly, with the supply of partially assembled units (semi-knock down kits) and progressing to complete assembly of the Ikri in Nigeria.
Ohakim said that Nigeria could save up to $200 million by repairing Nigeria’s unserviceable APCs. He told journalists in Abuja that around 50 Nigerian Police APCs are unserviceable mainly due to lack of maintenance. “We did a survey of all the APC’s in the Nigeria Police for free, we found out that almost 50 or more APCs have broken down and most of them we found out like maybe [the] gearbox has spoilt, or [the] battery has died, [or the] light is not showing, all those small things, they will leave it, and the APC will start rusting. So we decided to offer maintenance to police”, This Day quoted him as saying.
He said that instead of the federal government maintaining the vehicles, they rather look to buy replacements – “whereas we can save almost $200 million if we repair all the APCs in Nigeria”.
The Federal and State Nigerian Police Force have received around 50 Springbuck APCs and these are deployed throughout the 34 States of Nigeria.
