Reps Vow To Probe  178,459 Missing Police Fire Arms

The House of Representatives has resolved to conduct a comprehensive investigation into circumstances surrounding the disappearance of 178,459 fire arms from the armoury of the Nigeria Police.

The House also implored  the Inspector General of Police to take urgent actions to arrest  those culpable for the depletion of the armoury of the Nigeria Police Force; just it mandated the House Committee on Police Affairs to ensure compliance and report back to the House within four (4) weeks.

The decision  followed  a motion of urgent public importance brought by the Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu), on the need to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing arms and those responsible for them.

In his presentation,Okechukwu noted with concern the 2019 report of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation on alleged disappearance of about 178,459 different arms and ammunition of the Nigeria Police Force in 2019 recently reported in our national daily newspapers.

He  added:”The audit of Arms Movement Register, Monthly Returns of Arms and Ammunition and Ammunition Register at the Armoury Section reveals that a total number of lost firearms as at December 2018 stood at 178,459 pieces.Of this number, 88,078 were AK-47 rifles, 3,907 assorted rifles and pistols across different police formations, which could not be accounted for as at January 2020.

“The findings in the report that the police high command failed to keep record of unserviceable and expired firearms and ammunition; owing to non-compliance to the internal control system of the Nigeria Police Force.Records of the total number of unserviceable firearms were not produced for examinations and there were no returns from Adamawa State Command, Police Mobile Force (PMF) 46, 56, 64 and 68 for the period under review.

“Dully completed Treasury Form 146 (loss of stores) were not presented. Records obtained from force armament at Force Headquarters showed 21 Police Mobile Force (PMF) Squadron, Abuja did not report a single case of missing firearm, whereas schedule of missing arms obtained from the same PMF showed a total of 46 missing arms between year 2000 and February 2019,” the motion stated.

He expressed worries that the value of the lost firearms could not be ascertained because no document relating to their cost of acquisition was presented for examination.