Joy Anyim
The Ogun State Police Command has said no AK47 rifle was handed over to it by the immediate past governor of the state, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun.
The command’s reaction followed an online publication by PREMIUM TIMES, – with the caption ‘Amosun Surrenders 1,000 AK 47 Riffles, Four Million Bullets acquired before 2019 elections’.
According to the Commissioner of Police in the state, Bashir Makama, said he was only invited to come and take delivery of ammunition which were in the state government’s armoury.
A statement issued, on Thursday, by the command and signed by the state’s Police Spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), reads: “ On the 28th of May 2019, the then Governor of Ogun State Senator Ibikunle Amosun invited the commissioner of police to come and take delivery of some ammunition and other items which had been in the State government armoury.
“Upon the invitation, the commissioner of police with his management team moved to the Governor’s office at Oke-Imosan where the items were presented to them in public.
READ ALSO: Edo 2020: Shaibu keeps tab on facilities, inspects Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium
“The items handed over to the Command on that day were: one armoured personnel carrier (APC) vehicle, 1,440,420 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 271 units of armoured vests and 3 ballistic helmets.
“Immediately the Command took delivery of the items, the Force Headquarters was notified via an official signal as a normal procedure and standard practice of reporting any incident.”
On the AK47 riffles allegedly delivered to the command, the statement said, “It is worthy of note that not a single AK 47 riffle was among the items handed over to the Command by the former governor, the much talked about 1,000 riffles were those purchased by the State government and handed over to the Command in the year 2012. The former governor only made reference to it during the handing over on 28th May 2019.
“It is therefore a thing of surprise to read from Premium Time that 1,000 AK47 riffles were handed over to the police in addition to four million rounds of ammunition.
“The outfit also mischievously accused the Command and the former governor of engaging in conspiracy of silence whereas, it was the writer who rather than waiting for the response to his questionnaire rushed to the press in total violation of ethic of journalism.”
The command also denied the allegation that the police high command did not know about the ammunitions.
“Also the allegation that the CP was making frantic efforts to inform the Force headquarters ahead of the publication to avoid been in trouble if the headquarters learnt about the incident through media only exist in the imagination of the writer as the office of Inspector General of Police has been duly informed even before the writer got wind of the matter.
“ In as much as the command is not willing to join issue with premium time, it is necessary for the outfit to always verify any information at its disposal before publication as that is the best standard practice all over the world,” the command maintained.
