The Federal Road Safety Corps says it will continue to apprehend motorists with faded vehicle number plates because they are a security risk to the public.
The corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.
Kazeem said, “What we are saying is that driving a vehicle with faded number plate on our roads is like living with neighbours who do not have identity; that is a huge security risk for other road users. This is because miscreants, kidnappers, terrorists as well as other enemies of the state can leverage that gap to commit heinous crimes because their identity is masked.”
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On the issue of educating vehicle owners on the imperative of having very clear number plates, Kazeem said, “I think the emphasis here should be channeled to educating people on the need to know the basis so that owners of faded number plates can replace them rather than devote energy on whether or not arrest is imminent.”
He also stated that the mandate of the FRSC included making highways safe, designing and producing vehicle number plates and keeping custody of every information about vehicles in Nigeria.
According to him, number plates fade because of using concentrated detergents in washing vehicles.
“In this case and other cases of theft, loss, and mutilation from crashes, replacement is at the cost of the vehicle owners.
“Such vehicle owners must first apply and will be contacted on the required fee for the replacement through the motor vehicle administration.
“Where materials are available for the production of number plates, it doesn’t take up to two days for the issuance of a number plate for a new vehicle.
“And also less than one week for re-issuance in case of theft, loss, mutilation and where they become faded,” Kazeem said.
The spokesman emphasised that it was not the desire of the FRSC to arrest motorists and impound their vehicles, but to educate them to do the right thing.
“When it comes to enforcement, there is always collaboration and synergy amongst security agencies.
“As for enlightenment, we have commenced that even before the enforcement began,’’ he said.
NAN
