Nigeria Police Force Cracks Down on Firearm Losses, Blames Negligence and Poor Training

The Nigeria Police Force has expressed concern over the alarming rate of firearm losses among its personnel, attributing the issue to negligence, poor weapon-handling skills, and insensitive deployment of officers. This concern comes on the heels of a Senate Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the disappearance of 178,459 firearms, which prompted the police to reject claims of unaccounted firearms, calling them “misleading and inaccurate”.

In a police wireless message obtained on Sunday, the Force blamed the avoidable loss of firearms on the “insensitive deployment” of officers by senior personnel, which has left policemen vulnerable to attacks and lacking confidence to counter threats.

To address this issue, the police have directed commands in major cities, including Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja, to implement urgent measures, including:

– Aggressive Training: Immediate design and implementation of aggressive training focused on firearm mastery.
– Arms and Ammunition Audit: Conducting a comprehensive audit and furnishing a report to the authorities.
– Monthly Returns: Submitting monthly returns on arms and ammunition by the 23rd of each month.

The police have warned that senior officers will be held accountable for any further incidents of firearm loss. Efforts to reach the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, were unsuccessful.