VIO, FRSC officers nabbed over number plate racketeering
The Niger State Police Command yesterday paraded four Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and VIO officers in Minna over an alleged involvement in vehicle number plate racketeering.
Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Richard Oguche, told journalists yesterday while parading the officers that the police were investigating the alleged acts of forgery, criminal breach of trust and cheating.
He said three months ago, four men-Yakubu Ahmed (VIO), Abdulmalik Mohammed (VIO), Ibrahim Mohammed (FRSC), Engr Deima Adamu Musa (dismissed from FRSC and now at large) illegally obtained 42 number plates, adding that Mohammed of the VIO sold the plates to an unsuspecting car dealer in Minna at the cost of N1.4 million. ASP Oguche explained that the car dealer who is a friend of Mohammed discovered that the plates supplied to him were fake, hence reported the case to the police.
According to him, further investigation revealed that the plates were unlawfully obtained by members of the FRSC who routed same to the market through Mohammed who served as the middleman.
He said, “Our investigations revealed that the unregistered number plates were obtained from the plant room and then issued to the VIO officers who in turn sold them to the car dealer”.
Speaking to Journalists, Abdulmalik confessed to have collected the N1.4 million to obtain the number plates, admitting that his deal with the other officers was illegal. Mohammed of the FRSC said he didn’t know that Engr. Adamu Musa had been dismissed from the commission, otherwise he would not have contracted him for the job.
He said: “The N1.4 million came through me, I gave it to him. He settled us with N100,000 each but as soon as he heard that we had been arrested, he ran away. I did not know he had been dismissed, I did not know that the number plates were not obtained through the normal channel.”