The police and vehicle registration

The PPRO said that the purpose of maintaining the register is to help in combating crime and that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) was mandated to do so by the Motor Traffic Act. He also said that the register had been in existence until people began to abuse it. He cited the example of […]

The PPRO said that the purpose of maintaining the register is to help in combating crime and that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) was mandated to do so by the Motor Traffic Act. He also said that the register had been in existence until people began to abuse it. He cited the example of multiple vehicular registrations in a state.  It is agreed that the register is expedient especially for the contribution it could make towards ameliorating the national security problem facing the country at this time.
My grouse with this registration is that those who began its abuse should be fished out and dealt with. Additionally, the common man should not be made to pay for the lapses of others. The IGP has outlawed road blocks, understandably, to prevent extortion by his men. But this new measure has elevated extortion to the level of official sanction.
Members of the National Assembly should take a critical look at this matter. To pay for the re-commencement of this central register is tantamount to extortion. The Motor Traffic Act that Mr Mba referred is outdated, because when it was enacted, there were no such agencies like the Federal Road Safety Commission.

Abbas Liman
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