The Nigeria Police Force has firmly rejected recent reports claiming that 3,907 firearms are missing from its armouries. According to the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa, these allegations are based on a misinterpretation of a 2019 audit report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation and do not reflect the current state of the force’s inventory.
In a statement released on Thursday, Adejobi explained that the audit’s findings were derived from records compiled before the current Inspector-General’s tenure. He noted,
“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 clarification comes in the wake of a February 11 Senate Public Accounts Committee hearing that scrutinized discrepancies in police armoury records. During that session, committee members expressed alarm over figures suggesting that 178,459 firearms—including 88,078 AK-47 rifles—were unaccounted for nationwide. The police, however, contend that such discrepancies often arise because weapons issued to personnel for operational duties may not be present during audit visits. Adejobi elaborated,
“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.
Addressing additional concerns, the police acknowledged that some arms had indeed been lost during violent episodes of civil unrest, where several officers lost their lives and their weapons were forcibly taken. “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.
Clarifying further details from the Senate inquiry, Adejobi stated that contrary to some reports, Inspector-General Kayode Egbetokun was not present during the full Senate discussion on the missing firearms. He explained that the IG had briefly appeared on Tuesday to address earlier concerns, after which the Assistant Inspector-General in charge of Accounts and Budget, Abdul Sulaiman, continued to answer the committee’s queries. The statement detailed,
“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 audit discrepancies to Monday, February 17, 2025, providing the police with additional time to reconcile their records.
In a broader warning about the impact of erroneous information, Adejobi cautioned,
“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 also emphasized that the issues raised in the audit reports from 2019 and 2020 are unrelated to the tenure of the current Inspector-General, noting that President Bola Tinubu appointed Egbetokun on June 19, 2023, to succeed Usman Alkali Baba. According to the statement, “no such outrageous number of firearms is missing in the armouries of the NPF within the stated period.”
As the controversy continues, the Nigeria Police Force remains committed to addressing any discrepancies and dispelling misinformation to uphold public confidence in its operations.
