The Senate criticized Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun on Tuesday for stating that it was not satisfied with the Nigeria Police Force’s explanation regarding 3,907 assault rifles and pistols that were purportedly missing from its arsenal as of January 2020 and that the police needed to account for the weapons and ammunition.
When Egbetokun appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) to answer the Auditor General for the Federation (AuGF) on “loss of firearms and ammunition,” the Senate expressed dismay at the loss of 3,907 assault rifles across Police formations throughout Nigeria. Egbetokun was unable to provide adequate answers to the audit query.
The audit report for 2019 noted that “the review of arms movement register, monthly returns of arms and ammunition, and ammunition register at the armoury section revealed that the total number of lost firearms as reported as at December 2018 stood at 178,459 pieces,” according to AuGF representative Olu Samuel Godwin.
The police armory is missing 3,907 RAFFLES.
The Senate’s ruling followed the question posed by the Federation’s auditor general in the 2019 Annual Audited Report.
According to the auditor general’s report, as of December 2018, 178,459 guns were reported missing, with 88,078 of those being AK-47 rifles.
Records from Force Armament at Force headquarters, according to the auditor general, revealed that 21 Police Mobile Force Squadron, Abuja, did not report any missing firearms, while a schedule from the same police department revealed 46 missing firearms between 2000 and 2019.
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In response, the police were only able to provide credible explanations for 15 of the 3,907 missing firearms included in the auditor general’s report, and they only accounted for missing rifles as far back as 1998.
After that, the Police begged for a closed session, but the Senate Committee firmly rejected their request.
The cops then begged for additional time so they could investigate the situation thoroughly and get back to them.
Details will be provided soon.
