Since the start of Operation Clean Plates, the Kano State Police Command claims to have arrested 123 drivers for driving with covered, defaced, or missing number plates.
At a news briefing on Monday, Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Adamu Bakori stated that the operation was implemented to prevent criminals from utilising unregistered vehicles to avoid detection.
“The objective remains clear: to rid Kano State of vehicles plying our roads with covered, defaced, or no registration numbers,” Bakori stated.
He further stated that “all the drivers of the intercepted vehicles have been charged to court and are being prosecuted” under the law.
During the enforcement operation, authorities stopped 123 vehicles in Kano State’s 44 local government areas, according to the police commissioner.
Bakori also reported a key breakthrough made by Panshekara Police Division officers on July 9 when they halted a car without a license plate in Kano.
He claimed that the motorist, identified as 51-year-old Mahi Ibrahim of Rijiyar Zaki, refused to stop and attempted to run before being detained.
Police stated a check of the suspect and the car yielded a Beretta pistol, dried cannabis leaves, a sharp knife, electric wires, 120 lithium batteries, and a vehicle suspected of being stolen.
The suspect has been sent to the State Criminal inquiry Department for additional inquiry, and attempts are underway to track down the source of the firearm and other recovered materials.
Bakori stated that the arrest underscores why the police initiated the operation.
“This arrest supports the very reason we started ‘Operation Clean Plates’. “Vehicles without proper identification are being used to transport suspicious individuals, prohibited firearms, narcotics, and other dangerous items throughout the state,” he stated.
The commissioner stated that the operation would continue in all 44 local government districts, encouraging car owners to properly register their vehicles and show standard number plates at all times.