The news that the Commissioner of Police in Lagos state, Hakeem Odumosu, had given a seven-day ultimatum to owners of unregistered vehicles to comply with the law has brought hope of safety to millions of Lagosians in view of criminality perpetrated by men in unregistered or covered vehicle plate number. In particular, security watchers in Lagos state will be very happy about the latest order to motorists, a policy that was introduced by the former inspector general of police, Sir Mike Okiro, but abandoned by successive IGPs. According to reports, the categories of persons and vehicles affected by the ultimatum tallied with Okiro’s ultimatum which worked well during his era. This writer believes that there will be great reduction in criminal activities in the state as a result of this wonderful policy. Bala Elkana, spokesperson of the command, said: “The Lagos State Police Command has issued a seven-day ultimatum to owners and operators of unregistered vehicles in Lagos state to register their vehicles or face the full weight of the law. Also affected are vehicles with covered or defaced number plates, vehicles with fake number plates and vehicles without number plates.
“Users of number plates with special inscriptions like ‘Chief’, ‘Chairman’, ‘Ambassador’, ‘Baale’, ‘Iyaloja’, ‘Sarki’, or bearing personal names, among others, are required by law to register such customised number plates. Escort vehicles and bullion vans must also be registered. It is not enough to inscribe just the word: ‘Escort’ or ‘Pilot’ as it is not sufficient enough to track such vehicles. Vehicles displayed for sale in various car marts must have the dealers’ stickers conspicuously pasted for easy identification”. The reintroduction of policy on proper vehicle identification by the Lagos state commissioner of police has, once again, shown that Lagos state police leadership is committed to policy continuation. Policy summersault has always been the bane of Nigeria. The three tiers of government in Nigeria have their fair share of this problem. From local, state to federal governments, the sad story of policy summersault is common. However, administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is witnessing a departure from the norm of abandoning projects started by preceding administration.
Currently, one vital policy successive police leadership has jettisoned is the policy of compulsory enforcement of affixing registered plate numbers on vehicles for purpose of identification and security, irrespective of personalities involved. Although, the law provides that every vehicle in Nigeria must have registered plate number affixed in proper places on the vehicle but gilded personalities, establishments have made mockery of this law as they go about with vehicles without plate number, covered number, fake number or no number at all. When Okiro was the inspector general, a bullion van knocked and killed a woman in Lagos state and since the van had no registered plate number, tracking it became impossible. Consequently, Okiro issued the order that all vehicles, especially those belonging to government establishments and officials, must have plate numbers displayed in the appropriate places. Compliance to the order was total, although few highly placed individuals flouted the order and got reprimanded.
For instance, an escort vehicle belonging to Bayelsa state government was impounded for flouting the order. At the Abuja airport, Okiro impounded the escort vehicle belonging to Nigerian Immigration Service, for the same offence. A senior police officer who came for a meeting at force headquarters had his vehicle detained for the reason that the plate number of his official vehicle was covered with a pouch. In a nutshell, Okiro’S era witnessed obedience to the law on plate number. However, revisionism set in on the departure of Okiro. Nobody cared about plate number again, especially in government establishments. The worst form of manifestation of the consequence of revisionism occurred on June 16, 2011 when Louis Edet House was bombed. On the day Force Headquarters was attacked, the bombers trailed the then IGP Hafiz Ringim to his Maitama residence with Volkswagen car that has no plate number. According to report, Ringim asked the august visitor to follow him to his office. At the force headquarters, the same un–plate-numbered car made it to the IG’s car park unstopped. What saved the force headquarters building from collapse was that the eagle eyed traffic warden in charge of vehicular movement in the building asked the un-numbered car to park away from the IG’s car. As soon as he moved the car few meters away from the official car of the IG, the bomb exploded.
When Okiro was IG, he built the existing car park for the IG and stationed a traffic warden there to enforce order. The traffic warden on duty on that fateful day, died in the course of leading the bomber away from the IG’s car park. It would have been catastrophic for the police as an institution if Okiro had not created that car park and taken steps to ensure compliance – that only the IG’s car must be in the park. It is disheartening that in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), most vehicles belonging to the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) are worst culprits in offence of non-compliance with plate number display. Some senior police officers are also guilty of plate numbers order. Presently in the FCT, the number of vehicles without plate number has increased. The dangerous implication of this trend is that it could be exploited by criminals to perpetrate evil in the country. Now that the Lagos state police command has courageously taken the lead in bringing back this life saving policy, other state commands should follow suit.
The police commissioner said: “This enforcement becomes necessary considering the fact that criminal elements in recent past have devised means of operating with such vehicles to attack unsuspecting members of the public without trace. A recent example is a case at Allen Avenue, Ikeja, where an operator of bureau de change was attacked, robbed and murdered by a criminal gang that used an unregistered vehicle, making it difficult for detectives to track the vehicle. Consequently, this writer will like to appeal to the Inspector-General of Police, Abubakar Adamu Mohammed, to consider the re-introduction of plate number display in every vehicle in Nigeria as was the case in Okiro’s era. This will go a long way in improving the general security situation in Nigeria. It will also add value to what many Nigerians have identified as Adamu’s Progressive Policing Phenomenon (PPP) that has defined his leadership model.
Oraetoka, Information Management Consultant & Researcher, writes from Abuja via [email protected]; 08056031187 09039094636.
