The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, came under fire on Tuesday as the Senate expressed dissatisfaction with the Nigeria Police Force’s explanation regarding 3,907 assault rifles and pistols allegedly missing from its armory as of January 2020. The Senate insisted that the police must account for the missing arms and ammunition.
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During an appearance before the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC), Egbetokun was questioned about the loss of firearms and ammunition flagged in the Auditor-General for the Federation’s (AuGF) report. However, he failed to provide satisfactory answers to the audit query, leading to further concerns from the lawmakers.
According to Olu Samuel Godwin, a representative of the Auditor-General, a review of the arms movement register, monthly returns of arms and ammunition, and the ammunition register at the police armory revealed alarming discrepancies.
“The audit report for 2019 observed that the total number of lost firearms, as recorded in December 2018, stood at 178,459 pieces,” he stated.
The Auditor-General’s 2019 annual report further disclosed that out of the 178,459 missing firearms, a staggering 88,078 were AK-47 rifles.
Additionally, records obtained from Force Armament at the Force Headquarters indicated that the 21 Police Mobile Force Squadron, Abuja, failed to report a single case of missing firearms. However, a separate schedule obtained from the same department showed 46 missing arms between 2000 and 2019, raising questions about record-keeping and accountability.
In response to the Senate’s inquiry, the Nigeria Police Force attempted to account for missing rifles dating as far back as 1998 but was unable to provide convincing explanations for 3,907 rifles flagged in the Auditor-General’s report.
The police subsequently requested a closed-door session, but the Senate Committee rejected the request, insisting on transparency in addressing the issue.
Following further questioning, the police pleaded for additional time to conduct a thorough investigation and report back to the Senate with a detailed account of the missing firearms.
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