AuGF: Police Can’t Account for 178,459 Firearms Deployed Across Nigeria

•Criminals stole them during robbery incidents, say police 

•AIG Suleiman contests figure, vows to probe AuGF’s claims

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (AuGF), yesterday told the Senate Public Account Committee (SPAC) that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) cannot account for over 178,459 firearms, mostly AK-47 rifles.

The AuGF claimed that the firearms were lost by the Nigeria Police Force across its commands and formations all over the country.

The losses were contained in the December, 2018 report of the Auditor General which was considered by SPAC yesterday. The AuGF office was represented at the session by Mr. Samuel Godwin.

Godwin said:  “Out of the number, 88,078 were AK-47 rifles. Similarly, as of January 2020, over 3,907 firearms could not be accounted for, according to the arms movement register and return of firearm records reviewed by the AuGF.”

The committee sat to consider audit queries issued to police by the AuGF. The AuGF’s  2019 audit report indicated that the firearms were lost and unaccounted for  covering the period 2000 to 2020.

A series of audit queries raised on the same matter over the years were not replied to and kept reappearing in the AuGF reports.

The report read in part: “The total number of lost firearms as at December 2018, stood at 179,459 pieces. Out of this number, 88,078 were AK-47 rifles. Over 3,907 assorted rifles and pistols across different police formations could not be accounted for as at January, 2020.”

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, who was earlier summoned by the SPAC to appear before it on Tuesday or risk being arrested, attended the session with the committee at the National Assembly.

Egbetokun  explained to the senators that his inability to appear earlier didn’t amount to a deliberate act of disrespect to them.

He nominated the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in Charge of Budgets, Mr. Abdul Suleiman to represent him. Egbetokun was then excused to go and attend to other official matters.

The SPAC had eight audit queries against the police, including a case of contract splitting involving the sum of N1.1 billion.

However, the query that generated heat and much interest was on the firearms, mostly AK-47 rifles, said to be unaccounted for across police formations and commands in the country.

The acting Chairman of the committee, Senator  Onyekachi Nwoebonyi, expressed  shock over the development. He noted that cases of arms freely available in the wrong hands were contributing heavily to the insecurity in the country.

He said: “This is part of the insecurity we are having in Nigeria today. If this number of firearms are in the hands of enemies, that means we are not safe. Even the police are not safe. Again, these firearms, rifles were procured with taxpayer’s money and Nigerians have a right to know what happened to them. The public should know the whereabouts of these arms.”

AIG Suleiman, assisted by other senior police officers, while being grilled by senators, gave some reasons, including saying that some of the arms were lost in either robbery incidents or the policemen were killed by criminals and their arms carted away.

Suleiman also said though the police painstakingly investigated cases reported by the commands/formations, there were those not reported but the authorities always followed up on them.

However, when the committee studied the records presented by the police, members realised that only 15 policemen either died or sustained injuries and were recorded as losing their arms in the process, out of the 3,907 unaccounted for.

Coming under sustained questioning by the committee,  Suleiman appealed for more time to enable the police authorities to submit a compressive report on the investigations, findings on the status of the firearms.

“To me, no firearm is unaccounted for. We will appeal to the committee to give us more time. We will submit a full report”, he appealed.

Making his contribution, Senator Adams Oshiomhole said what the lawmakers had expected to hear from the police was for them to admit that these arms were indeed lost  and that penalties had been meted out to the offending policemen, especially those who might have sold them to criminals.

Oshiomhole said: “The least we expect is for you to tell us that the arms have been traced to officers who were responsible. They must be arrested and paraded just like the police do to ordinary Nigerians. There should be no two sets of laws for different people in Nigeria.

“The arms were procured to take care of Nigerians. Yet they have been taken away by someone. The police must account for those arms and whoever was in charge, has to be prosecuted according to the law. We will not waive this one.”

Not satisfied with the explanations given by the police, the committee asked the IG’s team to reappear on Monday.