The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, has continued its crackdown on motorists using fake, defaced, and unauthorized diplomatic number plates in Abia State.
The enforcement, which started on Monday, is part of FRSC’s nationwide security measures, following a security report from the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA.
In Abia State, the operation is being led by Oki Adetunji, an Assistant Corps Marshal, ACM, sent from the FRSC headquarters, Abuja.
Speaking on Wednesday on the Umuahia axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway, ACM Oki Adetunji said that the use of fake and unauthorized diplomatic number plates by some motorists was constituting a big threat to the security of the nation, adding that it resulted in revenue loss to the Federal Government.
He noted that the enforcement exercise is the second phase, stressing that it was designed to prevent criminal elements from perpetrating crimes on the roads using fake number plates.
Adetunji, who was accompanied by the Sector Commander of Abia State Command, CC Ngozi Ezeoma, in monitoring the enforcement, disclosed that the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, had recently sounded a security alert about the activities of criminal elements who use fake, defaced and unauthorized diplomatic number plates to commit crimes on Nigerian roads.
“Our previous exercise contributed to a reduction in road crashes, but apart from road crashes, we don’t want anybody to use fake number plates to commit crimes or other breaches of the security of this nation.
“Because as soon as they commit crimes with those fake number plates, they remove them, and that is what we are doing.”
Adetunji further advised motorists to stop accusing FRSC officials of punishing or wasting their time on the roads.
The Sector Commander of FRSC , Abia State Command, CC Ngozi Ezeoma, warned against acts that compromise national security and road safety.
During the exercise on Wednesday, a vehicle registered with motorcycle documents was discovered on the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway by the FRSC personnel.