Nigeria Police Refute Allegations of 3,907 Missing Firearms
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has dismissed reports alleging that 3,907 firearms are missing from its armouries, describing the claims as misleading and inaccurate.
In a statement on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, clarified that the report originated from an assessment of a 2019 audit by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF). According to the audit, the arms were I’m “unaccounted for” at the time, rather than outrightly missing as suggested by some media reports.
The police noted that discrepancies in audit records often arise due to operational deployments, where weapons issued to personnel for field duties may not always be present during armory inspections.
“The Nigeria Police Force has a statutory and annual internal auditing process, ensuring proper accountability of arms. Throughout these audits, there has been no outrageous record of unaccounted or missing arms, as speculated in the 2019 report,” Adejobi said.
He acknowledged that security challenges, including attacks on police facilities and the killing of officers during civil unrest, have sometimes resulted in arms being taken by criminal elements. However, he assured that efforts have been made to recover stolen weapons, with many already retrieved and accounted for.
Addressing reports of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP)’s presence at the Senate Committee hearing on the matter, Adejobi clarified that the IGP, who appeared briefly before the Senate Public Accounts Committee on February 11, was not present when senators raised questions on the purported missing arms.
“The IGP was only asked to explain why he did not honour previous invitations by the committee. He responded satisfactorily before taking his leave, while the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Accounts and Budget remained to address the committee’s queries,” he added.
Adejobi further cautioned against the spread of misinformation, stating that such reports undermine public confidence in security agencies and could have wider implications for national security.
“The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to transparency, public trust, and accountability in the management of operational materials. We urge the public to rely on verified information rather than misleading narratives,” he said.
The Senate Committee hearing on the matter has been rescheduled for February 17, where further clarifications are expected.
