Nigeria police target unlicensed vehicles, deploy officers

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has ordered a nationwide crackdown on vehicles without license plates and announced a major redeployment of top officers, as authorities intensify efforts to rescue abducted schoolchildren in Oyo State. The directives were issued on Tuesday during a strategic conference with senior police officers in Abuja.

Disu mandated an immediate enforcement operation targeting vehicles operating without registration plates or with concealed, altered, or defaced number plates. He stated that any such vehicle will be stopped, impounded, and subjected to legal proceedings, warning that the practice, often exploited by criminal elements, will no longer be tolerated.

In a significant structural reform, the IGP ordered the deployment of Deputy Inspectors-General of Police to all six of Nigeria's geopolitical zones, effective June 15. He said the move is designed to improve supervision, operational coordination, and accountability, bringing strategic leadership closer to field operations to enhance rapid response to emerging threats.

The conference focused heavily on the nation's evolving security challenges, including kidnapping, armed robbery,...