Police don’t procure arms, says IGP

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By Tony Akowe, Abuja

The Inspector General of Police Alkali Baba on Monday told the House of Representatives Committee investigating procurement of arms and ammunition for security agencies that the Police is not responsible for procurement of the arms it use.

Represented by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, Sanusi Lemu, the IGP said the arms and ammunition used by the police are procured directly by the Ministry of Police Affairs in collaboration with the office of the National Security Adviser.

Responding to questions on why the Police failed to submit relevant documents requested for by the committee, the IGP said majority of the items requested for by the committee were not the responsibility of the Police, hence the inability of the police to respond to the request.

He said the Ministry of Police Affairs was in a better position to provide all the committee was requesting for, including records of all arms procured for the police as well as list of local and foreign contractors working with the Police.

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Asked whether the Nigeria Police does not procure arms, he said: “The Ministry does our purchases through their budget for the police. The Ministry of Police Affairs handles the purchases. The Police as an Organisation don’t engage in any purchase.

“The Ministry liaises with the Office of the National Security Adviser to handle this. When they make their purchases, they present it to the Nigeria Police force.

“My department, which is Operations, is concerned with distributing them to police formations across the country”.

A member of the Committee, Preye Eseke, however told the DIG that all that he has told the committee should have been written and presented to them, adding that failure to respond to the letter from the committee was an insult on the committee.

The Police was told to reappear before the committee on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.

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