Police Nab Fabricators of 200 Local AK-47 Rifles

By Kingsley Nwezeh

Nigeria Police yesterday paraded 81 crime suspects and 45 assorted arms and ammunition as the force battles rising crime wave nationwide.

The suspects include manufacturers of local AK-47 rifles and suspects, who fabricated and sold over 100 unauthorised vehicle number plates.

Parading the suspects in Abuja, Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, a Commissioner of Police, said the suspects were involved in various crimes, including gunrunning, illegal possession and fabrication of arms and vehicle number plates, kidnapping, armed robbery and murder.

He said one of the suspects, Joe Michael, a graduate of Government Technical College, Bukuru, Jos, Plateau State, fabricated 180 locally made AK-47 rifles, using original AK-47 ammunition and magazines which he sold for N80,000 each.

He said only users would understand the difference between the original AK-47 rifles and the local ones he produced.

Police also paraded a syndicate specialised in the fabrication of vehicle number plates.

He said Basil Okpara, Nurudeen Lawal, among others, specialised in the manufacture of vehicle number plates that looked exactly like the official number plates of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), including private, commercial and diplomatic number plates.

Another suspect, Abubakar Mohammed, a Malian national based in Kebbi State, was involved in transnational gunrunning.

Mba said Abubakar Mohammed, “has been in the business of supplying arms to armed bandits and other criminals in the Sahel region”.

He displayed an ammunition chain, which could hold 1,600 live ammunition used in General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG).

He said the suspect was arrested between Nigeria/Benin Republic border and had been in the business for five years, smuggling one AK-47 at a time, which he sold for N500,000.

He said investigation was ongoing.

The police also paraded a suspect and psychology student of University of Jos, Mr. Sylvester Adamu, who sought and received a N500,000 loan from a friend for his marriage but later planned the death of the friend after he sighted some money on his car dashboard.

Force Headquarters also paraded a kidnap syndicate that kidnapped Mr. Abba Abbey, aide of a former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aliyu Wamako.

Mba said the victim was killed because he could not pay a N50 million ransom.

Mba said the leader of the gang, Abdullahi Talhar, reputed to be a “marksman and a deadly shooter”, confessed that eight members of the gang used two AK-47 rifles in the kidnap operation.

He all the suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation, pending when judicial workers call off industrial action.