Showdown in Senate over missing 3,907 assault rifles

Tension unfolded on Tuesday at the Senate Committee on Public Accounts when Assistant Inspector General of Police Suleiman Abdul was rigorously questioned regarding 3,907 missing assault rifles – many of which were AK‑47s.

During the hearing, a representative of the Auditor General for the Federation presented the 2019 audit query, revealing that as of January 2020, a total of 3,907 assault rifles were either missing or unaccounted for by the police. This disclosure came on the heels of an earlier appearance by Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun, who apologised to the committee for failing to attend previous summons.

Following his apology and the swearing of an oath, Egbetokun nominated AIG Abdul – who is also responsible for Public Accounts and Budget – to respond to eight queries raised by the office of the Auditor General. The committee, chaired by Deputy Chairman Senator Peter Nwaebonyi representing Ebonyi North, dismissed the first query concerning a N1.136 billion contract splitting and set aside the second query related to the alleged non-execution of a N925 million contract. However, it upheld the third query regarding the missing 3,907 assault rifles, many of which were AK‑47 models.

According to the official, by December 2018, the total number of lost firearms stood at 178,459, including 88,078 AK‑47 rifles. Yet a subsequent thorough audit in January 2020 found that 3,907 assault rifles and pistols across various police formations could not be accounted for. He further broke down the figures, attributing the discrepancies to 601 missing from 15 training institutions, 42 from 23 police formations, 1,514 from 37 police commands, 29 from Zones 1 to 12, and 1,721 from Police Mobile Force units numbered 1 to 68.

Committee members, clearly irate over the report, bombarded the police team with questions as to why these issues had not been addressed despite previous inquiries. Neither AIG Abdul nor his subordinates provided a convincing explanation for the missing rifles. Overwhelmed by the barrage of questions, AIG Abdul requested a closed-door session – a proposal that was rejected by the majority of committee members, including Deputy Chairman Senator Adams Oshiomhole and Senator Joel Onawakpo-Thomas.

Senator Nwaebonyi was particularly adamant, declaring, “This is a public accounts committee with no room for closed-door sessions. In the United States of America, public accounts committee proceedings are televised live. Whatever explanation the AIG wishes to offer regarding the missing assault rifles must be delivered in full view of the public, especially the journalists.” Similarly, Senator Oshiomhole emphasised that the police, already known for their actions against minor offenders, must now clarify the measures taken over the years concerning the missing rifles, identify those involved, and outline the progress made in recovering the lost weapons.

In what was seen as a feeble response, AIG Abdul managed to account for only 15 of the 3,907 missing assault rifles – attributing 14 to personnel who were killed in active service and one to an incident in 1998. This explanation only further infuriated the committee members.

In a bid to bring some resolution to the matter, the committee resolved that AIG Abdul and his team must refine their response to the query, noting that this issue would not be allowed to vanish without proper accountability. They were directed to reappear before the committee on Monday next week at noon, with consideration of the remaining five queries suspended until further notice.