The police in Ondo State have reiterated their commitment to impounding any vehicle using unauthorized government official or National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) number plates in the state.
Mr Adebowale Lawal, the Commissioner of Police in the state, made this known while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday on efforts to reduce the crime rate.
Lawal, who was recently deployed to the state, said the rate of crime had been reduced due to the robust collaboration with other sister agencies and residents.
He said there were indications that some people were using fake and unauthorized number plates to perpetrate crime in the state. He warned them to desist or face the full wrath of the law, adding, “Recently, we discovered that there is this swift operation of people fixing government plate numbers on vehicles.”
“We arrested somebody who fixed the government’s plate number under the guise of being a member and a government official and he was not even working there. He just fixed it on his vehicle.
‘And by the time the vehicle was impounded and searched, we recovered some drugs there.
“That of NANS, they just fixed their number so that by the time you see them, if you are not courageous enough, you will not be able to stop and search.
“It’s not like they were just carrying fake numbers but the use if the numbers were unauthorised and used for other things.
“And we have said that nobody, if you don’t have the authority to carry those numbers, please don’t carry it. Don’t fix it on your vehicles, because it will be impounded
“We don’t want anybody under the guise of fixing a government’s plate number and use it to perpetrate any crime,” he said.
Lawal called on Nigerians to join hands with the police in fighting crime, thanked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), and Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa for being supportive to fight crime and criminalities on the waterway and interland.
*Our priority is the safety of the good people of the state, to protect their lives, protect their properties, so that the vision and mission of the government will come to fruition,” he said.
