Police respond to senate panel, say 3,907 arms went missing before Egbetokun’s tenure

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says 3,907 weapons did not go missing from its armoury during the tenure of Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police (IGP). 

On Tuesday, the senate committee on public accounts queried the NPF over the missing firearms.

The disappearance of the ammunitions was contained in a 2019 report issued by the office of the auditor-general of the federation.

Egbetokun nominated Suleiman Abdul, an assistant inspector-general (AIG), to respond to the senators’ queries.

Lawmakers rejected the police representative’s “unsatisfactory explanations” on the subject and other audit issues.

‘OUR ARMS CARTED AWAY’

In a statement on Thursday, Muyiwa Adejobi, force spokesperson, said some police ammunitions went missing during civil unrest.

Adejobi said when auditors inspect police armouries, they may not find all the weapons because some are issued to personnel for operational use.

“The force wishes to clarify that this report appears to stem from an assessment of the report by the Office of the auditor-general of the federation, dating back to 2019, likely reflecting records compiled prior to the current inspector-general of police’s tenure,” the statement reads.

“It is important to acknowledge the challenges faced by the police during periods of civil unrest, during which several police officers were killed and their arms carted away, and some attacks and looting of police facilities and armories, resulting in the loss of arms.

“However, every effort has been made to account for the arms that were taken, while many have been recovered back to the arms holding of the force at the moment.

“We also note that when auditors conduct visits to our armories, they may not find all arms present at the time due to the issuance of weapons to personnel for operational purposes, many spanning to months depending on the nature of such operations.

“Consequently, this may lead to misconceptions regarding the accuracy of audit reports.”

Adejobi added that “no such outrageous number of firearms is missing in the armouries” of the force under the leadership of Egbetokun.