The massive explosion that recently rocked the premises of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) in Kaduna was preventable, and therefore, unacceptable. The blast which occurred on Saturday, September 20, 2025, reportedly detonated during the controlled disposal of expired gunpowder materials at the factory’s ordnance disposal pit in Kurmin Gwari.
The incidence, which left one person dead and several others injured including DICON’s civilian workers shook the surrounding buildings and sent residents scampering for safety.
An official statement later issued by DICON stated that the explosion occurred while specialists were disposing of expired ordnance materials stored at the factory. The affected items included Ammonia Nitrates, Primer Caps, Propellants, and other raw materials that had long exceeded their shelf life. A statement signed by the corporation’s Public Relations Officer, Maria Sambo, explained that DICON had since July 2025 began disposing of the expired items; adding that the unfortunate accident occurred while experts were concluding the destruction of the remaining stock.
Meanwhile, the military high command has ordered an immediate investigation into the explosion. The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General Tukur Gusau, affirmed in a statement that the Defence Headquarters deeply regrets the ordnance explosion. Also, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa extended condolences to the families and friends of the deceased; pledging to conduct a thorough investigation to prevent future incidents.
While this is the second incident in the country this year alone, it is a repeat of history at DICON. Earlier this year, residents of Maiduguri and its environs were at about 11.35pm on Wednesday April 30, 2025 rattled when several bomb explosions rang through the city from the Giwa Military Barracks’ armoury. The deafening explosions, which reportedly lasted for more than two hours, were followed by large balls of flames in the direction of the Giwa Barracks.
Officials attributed the Giwa Barracks’ explosions to a fire outbreak around the armoury section of the barracks. Speaking through Reuben Kovangiya, the Theatre Command Operation, HADIN KAI, said high temperatures in Maiduguri might have triggered the explosion of some ammunitions; a claim later corroborated by authorities of the Borno State Fire Service.
It would also be recalled that on Tuesday November 3, 2009, explosions which DICON authorities at that time described as a minor industrial accident rocked DICON factory when the General Manager was on an inspection tour of the factory. The six victims affected in the incident were DICON staff members working in the capping section of the factory.
The armoury detonations of Sunday, January 27, 2002 that hit the Ikeja military cantonment is another gory experience Nigerians would forever hate to remember. The explosion of ‘high calibre bombs’ believed to have been caused by a fire that started from a nearby street market and thereafter spread to the armoury terribly affected areas up to 50 kilometres away from the cantonment; leaving over 1,000 people dead, hundreds injured, and about 20,000 displaced from the immediate community. It also caused severe damage to a number of buildings in and around Ikeja.
Given the nature of previous incidents in which ordnance explosions were ascribed to expired substances and weather, repeated occurrences clearly point to sheer negligence on the part of military authorities. Their failure to learn from past incidents is also professionally indicting. DICON’s mandates include the operation, maintenance and control of ordnance factories for the manufacture, storage and disposal of weapons and ancillary stores and materials intended for or capable of being used by the armed forces.
Within the context of their mandate, DICON and heads of armoury sections in military barracks lack any excuses for not adhering to safety protocols in ordnance storage or disposal measures. Were storage facilities closely monitored in Giwa barracks; and were expiring munitions in DICON not left in stock until they became moribund, the two separate explosions would have been averted.
Similarly, had military authorities relocated DICON out of Kurmi Gwari neighbourhood in Kaduna and the armoury out of Ikeja ever since physical development caught up with the two sites that were considered outskirts in the past, the loss of lives and property witnessed in the Ikeja blasts and the recent DICON explosions would both have been forestalled.
We urge the CDS not to allow the report of the probe into the last DICON explosions go the way of previous investigations. It should be made public and persons responsible for operational failures sanctioned appropriately.
Daily Trust also calls on the Nigerian military to demonstrate value for human life by institutionalising operational safety in the warehousing and discarding of weapons and ammunitions.
Relocating weapons’ storage facilities from densely populated areas of cities would further prevent recurrence of ordnance explosions with its associated damages. DICON’s recent incident should be the last to be heard in the country. Nigeria has had enough of ordnance detonations.