IG directive: Police crackdown on unregistered plates hits major states
By: Abudu Olalekan
It started with a memo. Now it’s hitting the streets.
Inspector-General Olatunji Disu wants every vehicle owner to check their number plates. Like, right now. The directive went out last week, and police commands across Nigeria is already swinging into action.
The message is simple. Cover your plate, alter the digits, or drive around without registration at all, and you’re losing the car. No negotiation.
In Kogi State, Commissioner Naziru Kankarofi isn’t playing. He ordered every Area Commander and DPO to hit the ground running. ASP Afusat Oyiza, the command’s spokesperson, made it clear Monday—if your plate is obscured by stickers, fancy frames, or deliberate dirt, you’re getting pulled over.
“Valid and clearly visible,” she stressed. That’s the only acceptable standard.
The cars won’t just get a warning ticket neither. Oyiza said any vehicle caught violating would be impounded straight away and subjected to investigation in accordance to extant laws. Drivers better have their papers ready too.
Down in Delta, the story is much the same. CP Olufemi Oyeniyi directed his tactical teams to look out for concealed, defaced, or completely missing plates. SP Bright Edafe, the PPRO, explained the logic in a statement—untraceable vehicles poses a security risk. Kidnappers and armed robbers loves them some anonymous rides.
“Remove any device, sticker, frame or cover,” Edafe advised. If your registration isn’t valid, regularise it yesterday.
But perhaps the most dramatic scenes unfolded in Rivers State. CP Olugbenga Adepoju decided to lead from the front. He personally led enforcement operations through Port Harcourt, rolling through GRA Junction and Ikwerre Road with his management team in tow.
They wasn’t just observing. Several offenders got arrested on the spot and arraigned before a mobile court right at the Mile 1 Police Traffic Section. Swift justice.
Adepoju explained that intelligence reports keeps showing the same pattern—criminals using obscured plates to move weapons, carry out kidnappings, and flee hit-and-run scenes. Visible registration, he said, remains critical to tracking these guys down.
He also threw in a clarification about the night restrictions. Tricycles and motorcycles still can’t operate between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.—that’s when “one-chance” robbers usually strikes. But Keke buses? Those mini-buses are fine to run late, though they’ll be watched closely.
“We do not want to inconvenience members of the public,” Adepoju said. Just the bad guys.
The CP also warned his own men: No extortion. Do this professionally, or face the music.
So if you’re driving through Kogi, Delta, or Rivers anytime soon, take a second look at your number plate. Make sure it’s clean, visible, and actually registered. Because the IG’s directive is already in motion, and the police commands isn’t blinking.
