By Abiola Olawale
The Nigeria Police Force(NPF) has clarified that the 3,907 unaccounted arms case happened before the tenure of the current Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
A statement issued by Force spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi revealed that these arms were not “missing” but rather “unaccounted for” due to various factors.
Adejobi, in the statement, added that some of the arms were carted away by hoodlums during civil unrest.
The police spokesman also emphasized that the report from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF) does not suggest that all the arms were lost or stolen, adding that some were not physically present during the audit due to operational reasons.
The statement reads in part: “The Force wishes to clarify that this report appears to stem from an assessment of the report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, AuGF, dating back to 2019, likely reflecting records compiled before the current Inspector-General of Police’s tenure.
“In the report, according to Issue 3b, Sub (iii), it is stated that 3,907 arms were unaccounted for and not ‘missing’ as speculated by the news.
“It is important to acknowledge the challenges faced by the police during periods of civil unrest, during which several Police Officers were killed and their arms carted away, and some attacks and looting of police facilities and armouries, resulting in the loss of arms.
“However, every effort has been made to account for the arms that were taken, while many have been recovered back to the arms holding of the force at the moment.
“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, many spanning months depending on the nature of such operations.
“Consequently, this may lead to misconceptions regarding the accuracy of audit reports.”
This explanation is coming on the heels of Senate’s decision to grill Egbetokun over trending matter of unaccounted arms from the police armoury.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has also scheduled a hearing for February 17, 2025, to further discuss and clarify these alleged discrepancies in the records.
