The Nigeria Police Force has refuted claims that 3,907 firearms are missing from its armouries, describing the reports as misleading and inaccurate, SAVANNAH NEWSNOW REPORTS.
ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force Public Relations Officer, issued a statement on Thursday clarifying that the allegations were based on a 2019 audit report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, which does not confirm the actual disappearance of firearms but rather reflects an administrative review process.
Adejobi assured the public of the police’s continued commitment to transparency and accountability in the handling of arms and ammunition, and urged the media and the public to verify facts before drawing conclusions that could cause unnecessary panic.
“The report appears to stem from an assessment of the 2019 audit, which likely reflects records compiled before the tenure of the current Inspector-General of Police.
“The report states that 3,907 arms were ‘unaccounted for,’ not ‘missing,’ as speculated in the news,” Adejobi stated.
A clarification has been issued following a report on February 11, which revealed that the Senate Public Accounts Committee questioned the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, over inconsistencies in police armoury records.
The committee had expressed concern that 178,459 firearms, including 88,078 AK-47 rifles, were allegedly missing from police formations nationwide, citing findings from the Auditor-General’s 2019 audit report.
However, the police have maintained that the figures do not reflect the current status of their armouries, as weapons assigned to officers for operations may not always be present during audits.
“We also note that when auditors conduct visits to our armouries, they may not find all arms present at the time due to the issuance of weapons to personnel for operational purposes, some spanning months, depending on the nature of such operations.
“Consequently, this may lead to misconceptions regarding the accuracy of audit reports,” Adejobi explained.
He also highlighted that some arms were lost due to attacks on police formations, particularly during civil unrest, a point the police reiterated in their response.
“It is important to acknowledge the challenges faced by the police during periods of civil unrest, where several officers were killed and their arms carted away.
“However, every effort has been made to recover these arms, and many have already been accounted for,” the police statement read.
Adejobi also clarified that Egbetokun was not present during the Senate’s discussion on the missing firearms, contrary to reports suggesting otherwise.
