The Lagos State Police Command has debriefed its officers as it moves to enforce a directive targeting vehicle number plates. The Commissioner of Police, Tijani Fatai, said the order should be carried out effectively across the whole of Lagos State, signalling a fresh push on an issue the force says has been widely abused.
The exercise brought together area commanders, divisional police officers and strategic commanders. It was framed as a follow-up to a directive issued by the Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu, during a meeting with very senior officers in Abuja, underlining that the instruction is being driven from the top of the force.
Top on the agenda was the order on the immediate arrest of owners of vehicles without number plates, as well as those covering their number plates without authorization. According to the Commissioner, the majority of such vehicles on the roads are not registered at all, a gap the command now wants closed.
Beyond the traffic enforcement, the Lagos police boss turned his attention to online behaviour. He warned content creators against capitalizing on the present security situation in the country to create more panic among residents, cautioning that those who do so risk arrest.
He stressed that the country is in a very sensitive period and that banditry is not a subject to be turned into content. People who only hear about such material, he said, may take it as reality, an outcome he warned would not be good for the public at this time.
The Commissioner insisted that the force is not raising any false alarm or creating unnecessary content around such a sensitive issue. He presented the warning as a matter of preserving public calm, urging creators to be mindful of what they put out rather than amplifying fear.
On the wider security picture, the Commissioner assured residents that his team is aware of the threats present in communities across the state. He said border towns have been fortified and more attention placed on schools, while urging residents to alert the police whenever they notice any strange movement.