IG's Order Requiring Number Plates Is Unenforceable

Like his predecessors, Inspector‑General of Police Mr. Tunji Disu has issued another unenforceable order directing commissioners of police (CPs) and tactical commanders to immediately intensify enforcement operations against vehicles without number plates.

Before this latest directive, police authorities had not yet fully withdrawn police escorts from VIPs as directed by successive IGs, while criminal elements continued to cruise on SUVs and other vehicles with tinted windows, contrary to those directives.

Disu delivered the directive during a strategic conference with senior police officers, noting a “growing and disturbing trend” of some persons driving vehicles without or with concealed number plates on roads across Nigeria.

The IG added that driving without number plates is “unlawful, irresponsible, and unacceptable.” He warned that the police would no longer tolerate impunity, citing “serious implications for public safety and national security.”

“Across our country, we have an increasing number of vehicles being driven without registration numbers, as well as vehicles whose number plates are deliberately concealed, defaced, covered, or altered in an attempt to evade identification,” he said. “Every vehicle operating on the roads must be properly registered and must display its approved registration number in accordance with the law. Any vehicle found without a number or with a tampered registration number will be stopped and subjected to the appropriate legal process.”

Successive IGs have issued the same directive on vehicles without number plates, but enforcement has always been an issue.

Across the country, thousands of cars travel without plate numbers. Some vehicles display temporary plate numbers issued to car dealers, which can be used for crime and then changed immediately.

However, policemen at checkpoints often do not arrest them because of the perceived affluence of the drivers.

By now, police authorities are reportedly tired of issuing this particular directive because it has become unenforceable over the years.

Nigerians hope that the IG and commissioners of police will finally stop their convoys on the road to apprehend and impound vehicles with no authentic plate numbers, signalling a departure from business as usual.