‘Missing Rifles’: IGP Writes Senate, Requests Closed-Door Investigations

• IGP Egbetokun requested the Senate to conduct future investigations on missing firearms behind closed doors to prevent misinformation and protect national security

• The police spokesperson clarified that the firearms were carted away by hoodlums during civil unrest, not unaccounted for, and many have been recovered

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has formally requested the Senate to conduct future investigations into the alleged disappearance of 3,907 assault rifles behind closed doors, citing security concerns.

Egbetokun’s request was contained in a letter addressed to the Senate, which Senate President Godswill Akpabio read after the passage of the 2025 budget.

The letter came just 48 hours after a tense investigative hearing, where top police officials, including the IGP himself, struggled to provide satisfactory answers regarding the Auditor-General’s report on missing firearms.

The IGP dismissed the 2019 Audit Report by the Auditor-General for the Federation, which claimed that thousands of rifles were missing or unaccounted for in police armouries as of January 2020. He described the report as inaccurate.

In the letter, Egbetokun stated:

We appreciate the Senate committee’s probe into the alleged missing firearms and urge the committee to conduct future hearings on sensitive security issues in camera so that the wrong impression is not created in the minds of Nigerians and the international community.

Conducting hearings on these sensitive security matters behind closed doors will help prevent misinformation, protect national security interests, and allow for more candid discussions and fact-finding.

The IGP also requested additional time for the police to carry out internal investigations into the matter.

Meanwhile, Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, speaking to journalists in Abuja, clarified that the missing weapons were not unaccounted for, as stated in the Auditor-General’s report, but were rather carted away by hoodlums during civil unrest.

He emphasized that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has worked diligently to recover many of the stolen arms and integrate them back into the force’s armory.

Adejobi also noted that there has been no significant record of missing or unaccounted firearms, apart from a few documented incidents that have been properly managed. He further pointed out that Egbetokun was not the Inspector-General of Police when the audit was conducted, implying that the issue predates his tenure.