A
40-year-old man, Mohammed
Mamuda, has been arrested for manufacturing Russian AK47 Rifles and Pump Action
Rifles and selling them to suspected criminals.
Mamuda was
busted by Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence
and Response Team (IRT). Police investigators, who were awed by the suspect’s
brilliance, exclaimed that they had never witnessed such masterpiece before.
Ironically,
the suspect, who is from Bauchi State, married to two wives and father of
three, had never been to a school, let alone to be educated.
He said: “I’m
not educated, but I attended Arabic classes. I’m a farmer, I rear cattle. I
started fabricating iron seven years ago after I bought a motorcycle. I started
repairing it on my own. Whenever it became difficult, I’ll take it to the
mechanic that was how I started fabrication. I became an expert on it. I’m
also a hunter. Anytime our group has problem with their pump action guns,
I’ll be the one to repair them. From that point, I used my fabrication skills
to start manufacturing pump action guns. People started buying them. I felt the
demand for AK-47 Rifle was high. I ventured into it and tried it. Although I
failed the first time, I tried again and again until I succeeded.”
He narrated
that in his village, where he produces the rifles, some kidnappers used to come
with such guns. It was when he saw them that he attempted to manufacture AK47
Rifles and succeeded.
He said: “Nobody
taught me how to manufacture rifles. I used to go to scrap dumpsites to
get parts to manufacture my rifles. My rifles work like the Russian AK47 Rifle.
My pump action rifle doesn’t fire rapidly. They fired only single shots. I sell
my pump action rifles for N10, 000. I sell my AK47 Rifles between N50, 000 to
N120, 000. I have produced a total number of nine pump action
rifles and six AK47 rifles. I used to buy the pump action and AK47 rifles
cartridges from Mallam Yusuf. He is a fellow hunter. I also buy magazines from Alhaji
Makasuia.”
In Nigeria,
it is a criminal offence to manufacture or import guns without approval or
license from the government. Presently, Mamuda is in IRT custody, not just for
manufacturing rifles, but also for allegedly selling to bandits.
He said: “I
didn’t know that the people I sold rifles to were bandits. It was after I was
arrested that I found out that some of my buyers were bandits that had been
terrorizing some parts of Nigeria.”
Another
suspect, Isiaka Zakaria, 40, also from Bauchi State, was arrested. Zakaria is
married with seven children. He dropped out of primary school and went into
farming. He said that he was also into local vigilante group.
He said: “I
bought four AK47 rifles and six pump action rifles from Mohammed. I sold
two of the AK 47 rifles to Umaru and one to Abudulahi who is presently
on the run. I kept one for myself. I sold the AK47 rifles to Umaru for
N200, 000, while Abdulahi bought his for N60, 000. I distributed the six
pump action guns to my vigilante members; Musa, Isama Daki, Alahi Yahaya, Suleiman
Mohammed and Saliu, who is now late.”
Another
suspect is 45-year-old Umaru Adams, also a farmer. He said: “I escort lorries
that bring cows to my village. I bought the guns because of cattle rustlers.
My friends are losing their cows to bandits and we needed the guns to protect
ourselves.”
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