The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Kayode Egbetokun has written to Senate asking that the probe into the missing 3,907 fire arms be conducted behind close door for security reasons.
Mr. Egbetokun, in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio appreciated the efforts of the Legislature to conduct “thorough investigation”into the alleged missing firearms from their armoury as of December 2020.
“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 will not be created in the minds of Nigerians and in the minds of the international community.”
“This is crucial to prevent misinformation and ensure national security”, mentioning that “conducting hearings on these sensitive security issues in camera will help prevent the spread of misinformation and protect national security interests and it will also allow for more candid discussions and fact-finding.”
The IGP said he is committed to maintaining a strong partnership with the National Assembly, working together to drive positive changes in our country and improving the lives of Nigerians and the security of the nation.
Senator Akpabio said the IGP’s letter was very clear, explaining that investigation would be done both internally by the police and further investigation will also be conducted by the Senate.
The Nigeria Police Force ( NPF) came under fire in the Senate on Tuesday over missing 3, 907 Assault Riffles as contained in the 2019Audit Report by the Office of Auditor General of the Federation ( AuGF ).
Trouble came the way of the Police when representative of the Auditor General in the query , read to the hearing of Committee members and AIG Suleiman Abdul that as at January 2020 as contained in the 2019 Audit Report, a total of 3, 907 Assault Riffles were unaccounted for, by the Police.
Irked by the report , members of the Committee bombarded the Police team with questions on why such queries have not been responded to, since issued.
In their responses , neither AIG Suleiman Abdul nor any of his lieutenants, could give the committee convincing reasons for the missing 3, 907 assault rifles.
Apparently overwhelmed by barrage of questions fired at him, AIG Abdul sought for closed door session which was however rejected by majority of the Committee members.
For soft landing , the committee later resolved that the AIG and his team, should go and tidy up their response to the query as it will never be swept under the carpet.
It consequently directed them to appear before it on Monday next week by 12:00pm and suspended consideration of the remaining five queries.
Lateefah Ibrahim
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