Most fake number plates used for crime bear NANS, presidency tag  —  FRSC boss

The Lagos State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Kehinde Hamzat, has announced the commencement of a nationwide operation to eliminate fake number plates.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, February 7, 2025, Hamzat revealed that many fraudulent plates are linked to respected institutions such as the presidency, the Nigerian Youth Council (NYC), and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).

He emphasized that the misuse of these plates poses a significant security threat.

“We think that most of these number plates are labelled presidency, NYC, NANS and some others, knowing fully well that these are established institutions that probably law enforcement agents wouldn’t want to disturb. We now discover that they use all these things to perpetuate evils, and it’s becoming a security threat to the country,” he said.

Hamzat explained further that most plate numbers with the presidency tag are not registered in the Nigerian vehicle registration database.

“If you check these numbers on the database, you’ll discover they are not anywhere. So when they misbehave, you start tracing the vehicle you can’t identify. We are trying to pick as many of them as possible to investigate and prosecute them appropriately,” he said.

The operation is believed to be part of the FRSC’s commitment to maintain the integrity of the National Vehicle Identification Scheme (NVIS).

The agency’s Corps Marshal, Malam Shehu Mohammed, recently directed his officers to arrest and impound vehicles associated with NANS structures.

Reacting to the directive, NANS leadership threatened to shut down FRSC commands across the country if the agency implemented it.

However, the FRSC has insisted that the threat by NANS leadership will not deter it from impounding vehicles with NANS tags and fake number plates.