Are Nigeria Banks Truly Protected From Armed Robbery? The Bullion Van Directive

When Mike Okiro, the Inspector General of Police issued out directives in 2007 that all banks in Nigeria should acquire Armoured Cash in Transit Trucks, a lot of people heaved a sigh of relief. At least they thought this would stem the tide of incessant killings and onslaughts by armed robbers on the banking industry. More people were glad though, that this would reduce the reckless marauding travesty of the rampaging Hilux trucks and Peugeot Station Wagons that regularly harassed innocent road users. Close to 2 years later, not all the banks have complied with this directive. More often than not, you still find this rampaging Hilux trucks parading the streets, probably less menacing now, after very strict instructions from above not to blare their noise making, heralding sirens. For those banks that complied and acquired Armoured CIT trucks, the question is, are these trucks really capable of stopping Armed Robbers in their stride?

Immediately the directive was given, everyone who was anyone that had some bit of money saw the opportunity to make a quick buck and just scampered off to Texas, Stuttgart or Rio buying any Armoured Truck in sight, without a clue as to what was required or needed. They were more focussed on the financial gains and not the provision of the right and proper product. So, we now have a proliferation of Armoured Trucks in different shapes and sizes all over the country, with no guidelines on standardisation or conformity.

The Nigerian society is a very peculiar society that requires peculiar and specific solutions to its problems. What obtains and works on the streets of Europe or America might not necessarily work in Nigeria. The threat levels on the streets of New York or London are quite different to the threat levels on the streets of Lagos or Port Harcourt. You don’t see armed robbers on the streets of London brandishing AK47’s, but on the streets of Lagos that is the norm. And when they attack it is usually as a small army. So you can imagine a band of about 20 men attacking a bank or bullion vehicle fully armed with assault rifles capable of firing 100 rounds per minute. To stand a chance the defences in place must be tailored specifically to withstand this sort of threat.

For Armoured CIT Trucks, the preferred ballistic material used for armouring is ballistic grade steel. The level of protection required would determine the thickness of the armoured panels. As a standard, most American built CIT truck are built to NIJ (National Institute of Justice Ballistic Standard) Level II to IIIA. The maximum threat level for level IIIA is the .44 Magnum. Anything more powerful would penetrate the ballistic steel. Available armouring statistics show that a minimum thickness of between 4-6mm, depending on the type of ballistic steel, is required to withstand the threat from an AK 47. For the bullet resistant glass, the thickness should be a minimum of 45mm. This protection level is the NIJ level IV or the European level B7.

Most American built trucks do not meet this level or standard. For the American market, attaining this level is not necessary because is is not commensurable to the threat level. And the overseas market is not large enough to make it economically viable for the manufacturers to build trucks to this standard. Furthermore this would mean investing in re-tooling and new equipment which would work out to be too expensive.

These shortcomings were quite evident in the number of casualties the Americans have suffered in Iraq. Most of the earlier armoured trucks deployed could not withstand the IED’s and roadside bombs of the insurgents. The armoured trucks were not built for urban CQBs (Closed Quarter Battles). Nowadays Manufactureres don't like using the words bulletproof, bullet resistant seems to be more appropraite. If there was really a vehicle that could be bulletproof, the Americans wouldn’t have suffered such high number of casualties especially with the amount of resources they commit to defense research and technology. The other issue which is of much concern is that, American built Armoured CIT trucks have a lifespan of just 3-4 years. And that is for a society that has very good if not perfect road networks.

In Nigeria where the road networks are deplorable, this would really be a challenge. The added weight of the armouring plus the weight of its cargo usually shortens the lifespan of the truck's suspension, braking, and mechanical systems. With very bad roads, the lifespan could easily be shortened to around 18 months. Usually the first part of an armoured truck that needs replacing is the chassis. In the past, American Armourers or Armoured vehicle fleet owners would remove the body from a worn chassis, refurbish it, and mount it on a new chassis, often as many as three times. Today, Armourers and Fleet owners have found it more economical to refurbish older trucks and sell them on to the burgeoning overseas markets, especially in Africa.

From this, one can easily assume that majority of the American built Armoured Trucks in Nigeria are refurbished and second-hand. In recent times there have been 4 different incidents, where these America built trucks have been attacked and in all the cases, the Armed Robbers succeded in carting away very large sums of money. In one of the incidents they blew up the truck with dynamites, in another one they put a log across the road and demobilised the truck by shooting at the tyres, but the one that struck me most was the incident where they demobilised the truck and used a welding machine to cut open the truck. This was a bit suprising because usually a basic welding machine should not be able to cut through ballistic grade steel easily. This just plainly shows the vulnerability of these trucks.

What now comes to mind is how the manufacturers hope to provide the regular after sales service and maintenance required to keep these trucks on the road. Armoured Trucks and vehicles need regular maintenance and service to check for gaps in the welding or breaks to the joints. With the roads we have in Nigeria this becomes more evident. A brand new car on our roads after a couple of years looks worse for wear, not to talk of a vehicle or truck that has an extra ton of weight added to a chassis that was specifically built to a specific load bearing weight. With this extra weight the chassis would definitely wear out quickly.

Unfortunately in Nigeria there is always the tendency to compromise standards to the detriment of quality and efficiency. A lot of people engaged in the security business as vendors or suppliers have no prerequisite knowledge at all, about practices and service requirements within the security industry and in most cases clients are always eager to embrace and engage these people because they usually offer a cheaper option in prices but the bottom line is, when your security is compromised you stand exposed.