The Federal Government has set up a committee to investigate an explosion at the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria complex in Kaduna State.

The Managing Director of Beacon Security and Intelligence Ltd., and a former Head of Security at the Senate, Kabir Adamu, disclosed this during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday.

DAILY POST recalls that two workers, including a military officer, were killed and four others were injured after an explosion hit the corporation’s factory in the Kurmin Gwari area of Kaduna metropolis on Saturday.

DICON’s Public Relations Officer, Maria Sambo, said the incident happened during the final phase of a controlled destruction of expired explosives and hazardous materials, including large quantities of ammonium nitrate, primer caps, and propellants.

Adamu described the explosion as “worrisome” but said the incident is currently being investigated.

“The explosion was worrisome.

“The President visited Kaduna, and the next thing we heard was that there was an explosion after he left. So, the first thing that came to my mind was whether it was a sabotage or a security threat.

“I was also concerned to know if there was any fatality. With time, we got to know that the fatality level was low. For now, there is no indication that it was a sabotage, and then the way the government responded was quite commendable.”

He added, “A committee has been set up to investigate what happened.”

The security expert argued that the explosion could have been prevented.

“The explosion could have been prevented, but as we know, these are materials that are components for assembling different types of weaponry.

“One of the policies of this administration is to enhance and increase our capacity for local production of weapons. That means DICON has seen more activities than it used to in the past.

“Most of us in the security and defence sector have commended the Bola administration for this desire to increase local production of weapons by 40 per cent.”

Local production of weapons, according to him, will save the country a huge amount of money spent on the importation of security apparatus.

“Instead of the money we spend importing weapons, the money will stay in Nigeria, and the vision is that Nigeria will be selling these weapons to other countries.

“Already, other countries have started showing interest. But the risk associated with that is around safety standards within the production side.

“And in this instance, it was a disposal pit where some of these expired materials were deposited and were being decommissioned.”

He urged that the report of the committee already set up by the government should be awaited instead of jumping to a conclusion on the reason for the explosion.

“Until the committee comes out with a clear report, it will be foolhardy to reach a conclusion.

“But there are standards for the disposal of either expired materials or chemicals that are used for the production of weapons, especially given that these are explosives, that even a small error could lead to the type of explosion that we saw.”

Kaduna explosion: Nigerian govt sets up committee to probe DICON blast