The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has denied allegations that nearly 4,000 firearms are missing from its armouries, stating that the claims are inaccurate and based on outdated records.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, noted that the claims originate from a 2019 audit report conducted by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation. He clarified that the report does not confirm that firearms have gone missing but rather indicates that some weapons were “unaccounted for” at the time of the audit.
“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.
This response comes after the Senate Public Accounts Committee questioned the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, regarding discrepancies in police armoury records. The committee cited the 2019 Auditor-General’s report, which raised concerns about 178,459 firearms, including 88,078 AK-47 rifles, allegedly missing from police formations across the country.
However, the police insist that the figures do not reflect the current situation, noting that weapons assigned to officers for operations are not always 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.
The statement also noted that some weapons were lost during attacks on police stations, especially during times of civil unrest. However, the police say they have made significant efforts to recover those arms.
“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 addressed reports suggesting that Inspector-General Egbetokun was present during the Senate hearing on missing firearms. He clarified that Egbetokun only attended briefly to respond to questions about previous invitations. After that, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Accounts and Budget, Abdul Sulaiman, remained to answer audit-related queries.
“The IGP was asked to take the usual oath and explain why he did not honour previous invitations by the committee. He responded to the satisfaction of the committee members and was thereafter excused, while the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Police Accounts and Budget, stayed back to answer the queries,” the statement clarified.
The Senate Committee has postponed further hearings on the matter until Monday, February 17, 2025, to allow the police more time to reconcile records.
Meanwhile, the police have raised concerns about what they describe as misinformation aimed at damaging public trust in law enforcement.
“The proliferation of misinformation, especially against institutions like the Nigeria Police, has far-reaching consequences, including compromising public safety, damaging reputations, and hindering the NPF’s ability to effectively maintain law and order,” Adejobi warned.
He further noted that the audit queries pertain to a period before the appointment of the current Inspector-General.
“These queries related to the period that predated the administration of the current IGP. For emphasis sake, no such outrageous number of firearms is missing in the armouries of the NPF within the stated period,” the report further noted.
