By Achadu Gabriel, kaduna
An explosion which occurred Saturday at Defense Industry of Nigeria (DICON), factory, Kaduna killing a personnel and injuring others has been attributed to expired ordinance in its factory, the Director General has confirmed.
Unofficial reports from an eyewitness accounts however put the number of those killed at two while those injured are four.
The DG, in a statement signed by the spokesperson of DICON, Maria Sambo explained that the explosion occurred at the factory disposal pit at about 10am on Saturday September 2025.
“On Saturday, 20 September 2025, at about 10 am, an explosion occurred at DICON Ordnance Factory Disposal pit, killing one person and injuring others”, the statement averred.
According to the statement some old storage bunkers used to store Raw Materials for production contained several expired materials for production which have exceeded their lifespans, including large quantity of Ammonia Nitrates, Primer Caps, Propellants and others.
It added that DICON had earlier initiated efforts since July 2025 to ensure the controlled disposal of these expired items and successfully destroyed all the Ammonia Nitrates and the majority of other items.
“However, the unfortunate accident of the explosion occurred while specialists were concluding the destruction of the remaining quantity of the expired items at the disposal pit on Saturday, 20 September 2025.
“The injured DICON staff are currently receiving treatment at 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, while the body of the deceased Personnel has been deposited at the mortuary”, it stated.
While commiserating with staff, families and friends of the deceased and wishing the injured a quick recovery, DICON assured the general public that the unfortunate incident is under control and there is no need for panic.
‘The neighbouring community is assured that DICON, as a responsible professional organisation, has institutionalized operational safety to the highest level, and they can go about their normal business. The remaining materials have been made safe.
“Accordingly, a Board of Inquiry has been instituted to unravel the immediate cause of the unfortunate incident”, it further added.
Our Correspondent also gathered grapevine that the incident started on Friday to Saturday morning.
