The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has said the 3,907 arms which are unaccounted for from the police armoury occurred before the tenure of the current Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun.

In a statement on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said hoodlums carted away some of the arms during an unrest.

He said, “The Force wishes to clarify that this report appears to stem 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 armouries, 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 armouries, 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.”