Hot Source• Says military now rely more on homegrown solutions in ongoing war against terror
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
EIB Group, an intelligence, surveillance and recognisance company, has revealed that the Nigerian military no longer imports drones and some other military hardware in prosecuting the ongoing war against terror in some parts of the country.
The Chairman of EIB Group, Mr. Bright Echefu, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists after a media tour of its facilities in some parts of the nation’s capital.
He stated: “We are doing a lot in the area of equipment production for the security agencies in Nigeria, and that’s because of the policies of the government. I can tell you, Nigeria doesn’t import drones anymore, they rely on local manufacturing companies like ours. Even bombs are also produced locally and a lot of things.
“DICON has been producing bullets for a long time, and even started producing assault rifles. So a lot of the things currently used in the North-east and some other locations are actually homegrown solutions. And we’re grateful to this government. It has never been better.”
Asked why the country was still experiencing this level of insecurity considering the kind of technology the company has at its disposal, Echefu maintained that security has improved drastically considering what happened in 2008 and 2010 during the peak of Boko Haram activities.
His words: “Security is broad. So depending on what area of security you’re talking about. Now these elements we are referring to as our threats have been there for a very long time. They are within us. Some are living in communities. You can’t just go to a community and destroy everybody there because of one person. So what we’ve done, or what is happening is that there are isolated picks, isolated targets. Do you understand my point? And that process is an ongoing process.
“Compared to what it was in 2008, 2010 during the major Boko Haram activities, a lot has improved right now. It’s just unfortunate that the military does not publicise what successes they’ve recorded. You won’t believe the amount of successes that have been recorded by the Armed Forces of Nigeria. But you know, they are very quiet about their things.
‘If only you can go deep into finding out, if I tell you how many have been neutralised, you’ll be shocked. You will be shocked by the numbers.
“And again, you know, recently there was a jailbreak in Niger Republic, a lot of elements from that side also have migrated into Nigeria. So you can understand that the pressure on the Armed Forces of Nigeria is quite heavy, but they are doing extremely very well. We’ve lost a lot of soldiers trying to save the country. Do you understand? So a lot has gone into it. They are doing a lot, a whole lot, I’m speaking from experience.”
When asked how the company operates at night since most of their operation is surveillance, Echefu said they are able to carry out surveillance at night with the help of advanced technology.
According to him, “We have equipment that can allow us use heat emissions from the body — a way to tell that somebody is actually hiding in that place. Technology has gone past that, you can find anybody, even if you are in a hole.”
Echefu believed that Nigeria has the capacity to end insurgency with the amount of local companies that are investing heavily, adding that most of the products are produced locally without the help of foreigners.
He revealed that the company already has a presence in 13 states of the federation where they are currently deployed.
The chairman added that they are currently in talks with the Benue State government to help the state in tackling the security issues in the state.
