1 week ago
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By John Ogunsemore
The Nigeria Police Force said recent reports alleging that 3,907 arms were missing from its armoury are misleading and inaccurate.
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi disclosed this in a Thursday statement.
Adejobi said this report stemmed 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 prior to the current Inspector-General of Police’s tenure.
“In the report, according to Issue 3b, Sub (iii), it is stated that 3907 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 armories, 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 armories, they may not find all arms present at the time due to the issuance of weapons to personnel for operational purposes, many spanning to months depending on the nature of such operations.
“Consequently, this may lead to misconceptions regarding the accuracy of audit reports,” Adejobi stated.
He added that the force has a statutory and annual internal auditing process in accordance with the provisions outlined in the Police Regulations, administrative instructions and standard operating procedures (SOP) which include stringent measures to ensure controlled movement and proper accountability of arms.
“Throughout our audits, there has been no outrageous record of unaccounted or missing arms, as speculated in the 2019 report of the AuGF, despite some incidences that have been documented and managed,” the FPRO said.
He further explained that the force has earlier defended the audit queries, which had hoped to help in reconciling the discrepancies in the reports.
Adejobi noted that a hearing session presided over by the Senate Committee on Public Account has been postponed to Monday, February 17, giving ample time for a proper cross analysis of records.
He stressed that contrary to reports in some sections of the media, the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, was not present when the senators were raising questions on the purported ‘missing’ firearms.
He stated that the IGP appeared briefly before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday, February 2 and was asked to take the usual oath and explain why he did not honour previous invitations by the committee.
“The IGP responded to the satisfaction of the commitee members and was thereafter excused to take his leave while the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Police Accounts and Budget, stayed back to answer the queries of the committee.
“These queries related to the period that predated the administration of the current IGP.
“For emphasis sake, no such outrageous number of firearms is missing in the armouries of the NPF within the stated period.
“Managing mischief and the spread of misinformation against the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has been a significant challenge in recent times.
“The NPF has, in recent times, made notable strides in stabilising the internal security space, but malicious actors seek to undermine these efforts by striving to erode public confidence in the police through the spread of malicious contents,” Adejobi said.
The FPRO said it was important to note that the proliferation of misinformation, especially against institutions like the Nigeria Police have far-reaching consequences, including compromising public safety, damaging reputations, and hindering the NPF’s ability to effectively maintain law and order.
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