Forty-four assorted arms belonging to the Nigerian Police, earlier reported missing between 2013 and 2015, cannot be not be accounted for, a government audit report has stated, raising fears the weapons could have ended up in the wrong hands.
Th e report, released in two parts between December 2016 and May 2017, is the latest from the Offi ce of the Auditor General of the Federation, empowered by the Constitution to examine records of accounts and stores of the country’s public bodies.
In the report reviewed by Premium Times, arms as well as rounds of ammunition entrusted to police personnel were said to have been “snatched”, “missing” or “lost”, while standards established by the country’s fi nancial regulations for reporting and checking such incidents were brushed aside by the police.
A security analyst, Cheta Nwanze, said there could be link between the “disappearances of the police arms and sources of arms used by kidnappers and armed robbers”.
“Yes, there is squarely a link between both.
Th e fact is that Nigeria is awash with small arms and many of these characters get their arms from illegal sources.
Th ere is clearly a link between violent crimes and the disappearances of the police weapons,” said Nwanze, who heads SBM Intelligence.
Police spokesperson, Moshood Jimoh, said there was no cause for fear.
He said “no police weapon was lost in the fi rst place so, there was no way police-owned guns could have ended up with criminals.
” But the report said at Umuagwu Police Division, Owerri West local government area of Imo state, assault rifl es with 28 rounds of 5.
56 mm calibre ammunition was reported “lost” by one police inspector while on duty on February 5, 2015.
Elsewhere in Imo, Umuagwo, Ohaji local government area, ‘fi ve arms (3 AK-47 and 2 AR rifl es) recorded in Arms/Ammunition Returns of September 19, 2013 could neither be traced in the latest handover note of the armourer and the Division Police Offi cer of April 7, 2014 and August 31 2015 respectively nor sighted physically as at the time of the audit inspection on October 14, 2015.
’ “Th e Arms Movement Register could not account for these arms and no document of any sort was presented to the audit team,” the audit report noted.
Also at the Iho Police Division, Ikeduru LGA, again in Imo, the audit report said: “Five (5) LAR rifl es were documented in the Arms/Ammunition Ledger/Register whereas in the current returns Ref.
CQ:2400/ IMS/IV/VOL.
2/152 dated 10th October, 2015 only three (3) Nos.
were recognised, leaving a diff erence of two (2) Nos as at the time of audit inspection on 12th October, 2015.
“One (1) LAR rifl e with breech No.
1693452 was said to have been with one Offi cer, at ‘B’ Operation Department, Owerri, but no document was presented to authenticate the transaction.
Th e second LAR rifl e with Breech No.
1693989 was offi cially transferred to ‘B’ Operation via signal
