The Nigeria Police Force was accused of having 3,907 assault rifles and pistols missing from its arsenal as of January 2020.
The Senate told Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, on Tuesday that it was not satisfied with the force’s explanation and that the police must account for the weapons and ammunition.
Egbetokun appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) to answer the Auditor General for the Federation (AuGF) on “loss of firearms and ammunition,” but he was unable to provide adequate answers to the audit question.
Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, apologized to the Senate Committee on Public Accounts for not fulfilling earlier requests to address questions posed by the Auditor-General’s office about alleged financial violations in the 2019 audit report.
Following his apology and oath-taking, Egbetokun designated Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG, who is in charge of Public Accounts and Budget, Suleiman Abdul, to address the eight queries issued against police.
The total number of lost firearms as reported as of December 2018 stood at 178,459 pieces, according to the audit report for 2019 noted by AuGF delegate Olu Samuel Godwin, which was based on “the review of arms movement register, monthly returns of arms and ammunition, and ammunition register at the armoury section.”
3,907 RAFFLES MISSING IN POLICE ARMOURY The Senate’s decision was in response to the question posed by the federation’s auditor general in the 2019 Annual audited report, which also revealed that 178,459 firearms were missing as of December 2018, of which 88, 078 were AK-47 rifles, according to the audit report.
Trouble for the police ensued when Godwin read the query out loud to committee members and AIG Suleiman Abdul.
The lost guns were further broken down by Godwin as follows: 1,721 from the Police Mobile Force, PMF, units 1 to 68; 42 from 23 police formations; 1,514 from 37 police commands; 29 from Zones 1 to 12; and 601 from 15 training institutions.
Committee members were incensed by the report and questioned the police team about why the questions had not been answered for so long.
In response, the senate was unable to receive a compelling answer from AIG Suleiman Abdul or any of his lieutenants regarding the 3,907 assault rifles that went missing.
The majority of the committee members, including Deputy Chairman Nwaebonyi, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, and Senator Joel Onawakpo-Thomas, flatly rejected AIG Abdul’s request for a closed-door meeting, seemingly overwhelmed by the flurry of inquiries.
Senator Nwaebonyi said, “This is a public accounts committee that has no room for closed-door sessions. In the United States of America, proceedings of Public Accounts Committees are televised live. So, whatever response the AIG wants to give on the missing assault rifles should be made in full view of everyone, particularly journalists.”
Senator Oshiomhole said, “The police are known for arresting and parading thieves of rats and rabbits, so we expect the same level of diligence regarding the missing assault rifles. The AIG should let Nigerians know what steps the police have taken over the years concerning the missing rifles, who was involved, and the extent of any recoveries made.”
AIG Abdul’s weak response was limited to 15 of the 3,907 missing rifles, 14 of which he said were lost when servicemen were killed in active duty and one of which vanished in 1998. The committee members were even more enraged by this remark.
The committee decided that in order to ensure a smooth landing, the AIG and his team should come back with a more comprehensive answer to the question, announcing that the issue would not be ignored.
As a result, the committee halted discussion of the final five questions and instructed them to return on Monday of the following week at noon.