|
| A Niger State number plate photographed in 2019. Niegodzisie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons |
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has begun a five-day operation in Niger State against vehicles displaying fake, defaced, covered or obsolete number plates.
The Niger Sector Commander, Aishat Saadu, said the exercise formed part of a wider FRSC patrol intended to improve vehicle identification and address security concerns linked to the misuse of registration plates.
Speaking in Minna on Monday, Saadu said the operation would continue until Friday, 6 November. She urged vehicle owners to check that their plates were valid, authentic and displayed without obstruction.
“The primary objective of Operation Guduma Phase 2 is to ensure that all vehicles operating on Nigerian roads have genuine, valid and properly displayed registration number plates,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that Saadu later led officers to a road in Minna, where they impounded some vehicles over defaced or obsolete plates. The report did not give the number of vehicles affected.
The FRSC’s national headquarters identified the exercise as the second phase of Operation Guduma. In a statement announcing the patrol, the corps said it would conduct the operation in selected states from 2 to 6 November, with senior officers assigned to supervise it.
Saadu said the operation went beyond routine traffic checks. She described it as “a strategic intervention aimed at strengthening national security, improving vehicle identification and promoting accountability on our highways.”
She asked motorists, transport unions and vehicle dealers to ensure that the vehicles under their control complied with registration requirements. Plates should remain visible and should not be altered, covered or concealed, she said.
Motorists can enter a registration number on the FRSC’s number-plate verification page for checking.
The sector commander also asked journalists to help inform the public about registration requirements and the security concerns associated with number-plate violations.
She said officers taking part in the patrol had been instructed to act professionally and fairly, and to follow established procedures.
“I also wish to emphasise that the operation is intended to promote compliance, protect lives and support national security rather than cause unnecessary hardship to road users,” she stated.
At national level, FRSC spokesperson Osondu Ohaeri said the renewed exercise followed concerns raised by the Office of the National Security Adviser about fake and unidentifiable plates. He said the patrol would also cover traffic management, emergency response and the removal of road obstructions.
The corps said its first phase, conducted in May, recorded 1,691 arrests across 11 states. Of that figure, it attributed 1,003 arrests to number-plate offences, 683 to overloading and mixed loading, and five to the alleged use of fake diplomatic plates.