BY John Odhe, YENAGOA
The Bayelsa State Police command has commenced a statewide enforcement operations against unregistered vehicles and vehicles with obscured, defaced, altered or unlawfully covered number plates.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Musa Mohammed said under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Iyamah Daniel Edebor, the command would no longer tolerate any of the above mentioned anomalies.
The statement disclosed that the initiative was in compliance with the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Olatunji Rilwan Disu and was aimed at enhancing public safety and strengthening crime prevention efforts across the State.
“The command has observed with serious concern the increasing trend of motorists deliberately covering, tampering with, defacing, altering, or removing vehicle registration number plates.
“Such acts are in clear violation of Section 10(3) of the Road Traffic Act, 2004, and Regulation 38 of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012, which require every vehicle to display clearly visible and duly registered number plates at all times.
“The use of unregistered vehicles and obscured, defaced, altered, or unlawfully covered number plates poses a significant threat to public safety and undermines police operations.
“These violations hinder the identification and tracking of vehicles used in the commission of crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping, cult-related violence, and other criminal activities.
“Consequently, all vehicle owners and motorists are advised to ensure that their vehicles are properly registered and that their number plates remain visible, authentic, and unobstructed,” said.
It warned that defaulters would be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
The commissioner of police further warned that any officer found engaging in extortion, harassment, or any form of misconduct during the exercise would face strict disciplinary action.
He also encouraged members of the public to report incidents of police misconduct through the Command Complaint Response Unit (CRU) on 08143377442 or 08145733300.
The Bayelsa State police command also urged all residents and road users to remain law-biding.
