Joe Michael, a Jos, Plateau State based graduate of technical school said he has fabricated about 180 units of ‘Ak-47’ which he sold for N80, 000 each in the last three years.
Michael was one of the suspects behind a local AK-47 fabrication factory recently uncovered by the police in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Speaking during the parade of the suspects, Frank Mba, spokesperson for the Nigerian Police said the locally-fabricated AK-47 was fast becoming the weapon of choice for criminals.
He described the locally made Ak-47 as a ‘masterpiece’ that would require extra knowledge of an expert to differentiate it from the ones made in Europe.
He added that during the raid on the factory, 20 pieces of the gun were recovered by the operatives, who for a long time, were on the trail of the suspects.
The spokesman said: “If you look at these weapons locally-fabricated by the suspects, there is no difference from others imported. Unless you are trained, you will not be able to spot the difference. They use the same magazines.
“We will follow up to track down those behind this, we will continue to deepen our intelligence, and continue to work with other sister security agencies to check the proliferation of illegal arms in the country.”
Michael claimed that he acquired the skill to manufacture the AK-47 from his late boss, whose name he gave as James.