The Nigerian Senate’s Public Accounts Committee, in a tense investigative hearing, has uncovered alarming discrepancies in the armament records of the Nigeria Police Force.
The hearing, which mandated the appearance of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, also featured testimony from Mr. Femi Godwin Ola, who represented the Attorney General of the police.
Highlighting a disturbing trend, Mr. Ola revealed that a total of 178,459 firearms, including 88,078 AK-47 rifles, were reported missing as of December 2018. The audit of police armoury records also showed that by January 2020, an additional 3,907 assorted rifles and pistols were unaccounted for across various police formations.
Breakdown of Missing Firearms:
According to data presented during the hearing, the missing firearms were traced to several police institutions and commands:
- 5 Training Institutions: 601 missing firearms
- 23 Formations: 42 missing firearms
- 37 Police Commands: 1,514 missing firearms
- Zone 1-12: 29 missing firearms
- Police Mobile Force (PMF) 1-68: 1,721 missing firearms
