Airforce Invents Bomb Detecting Robot To Fight Boko Haram

Experts in bomb detonation would soon not need to get closer to such dangerous objects to neutralise them as the Nigerian Airforce has invented a robot to undertake such task from a far distance.


Commandant of the Nigerian Airforce Institute of Technology (NAFIT), Kaduna, John Oshoniyi on Monday said the institute had developed a bomb detective robot capable of detecting bombs from afar, and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for surveillance and intelligence gathering in crisis prone parts of the country.

At a news conference in preparation for the 42nd graduation ceremony of the institute, the commandant said the bomb detonating robot, would assist the security agencies to check the series of bombings by terrorist groups.

The Boko Haram terrorists group has been unleashing waves of violence attacks in the northern part of Nigeria since 2009, and bombs have become its favourite lethal weapon.

On 14 February 2012, a policeman, Sunday Badang, was killed while attempting to detonate a bomb wrapped inside a bag with bare hands along Ungwar Seriki area of Kaduna metropolis.

As a result of that unfortunate incident, NAFIT went into research that led to the invention of this unmanned robot.

Displaying the robot before newsmen, Mr Oshoniyi said the equipment would be presented to the public as soon as it is ready, adding that the UAV, the first in Africa, was a product of the transformation agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in attaining higher pedestal in military aviation and defence related technology.

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