The Nigeria Police Force has clarified reports about 3,907 unaccounted-for arms, explaining that the issue stems from an assessment of an audit report conducted by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF) from 2019. According to the Force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the discrepancy refers to arms that were not “missing,” but rather unaccounted for at the time of the audit, with the majority of the loss linked to past incidents of civil unrest and looting.
In the statement, Adejobi outlined that some of the missing arms were taken by hoodlums during periods of civil unrest, where several police officers were killed and police facilities were attacked. He noted that police armouries were looted during these disturbances, leading to a significant loss of firearms.
He further explained that auditors may have encountered discrepancies during their visits to police armouries because weapons were issued to officers for operational duties. Some of these operations spanned several months, which could have led to the apparent absence of arms during the audit.
“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, dating back to 2019, likely reflecting records compiled prior to the current Inspector-General of Police’s tenure,” Adejobi said.
Efforts to recover the missing firearms are ongoing, and the police have successfully reclaimed many of the lost weapons. Adejobi assured the public that the Force is actively working to ensure accountability, despite the challenges posed by past incidents.
