The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), says those patronising touts and unauthorised vendors to process and obtain their vehicle number plates are in breach of national security.

The Corps has therefore warned the public to desist from such practices.

Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi said this in a statement issued by the Corps spokesman Bisi Kazeem on Friday in Abuja.

Mr Oyeyemi said that it was in pursuant to the primary role played by the FRSC in advancing national security through rigorous intelligence gathering linked to its National Vehicle Identification Scheme (NVIS) among others.

According to him, this warning followed reliable intelligence received from the ongoing nationwide clampdown on the rising cases of unauthorised number plates in circulation.

“The special operation has so far revealed that a number of the motoring public are completely ignorant of the implications of using unauthorised number plates.

“Hence their continuous patronage of touts for their vehicle registration and identification processes,” he said.

Mr Oyeyemi explained that the FRSC as a custodian of critical national intelligence infrastructure had overtime admonished the public to always go through appropriate authorities when obtaining their vehicle number plates.

This he said was because a proper vehicle registration was not only a catalyst to road safety, but national security.

The FRSC boss added that the Corps was not ready to allow any road user to become an instrument for the breach of laws and order guiding vehicle operation in the country.

He said “the relevance of the National Vehicle Identification Scheme in enhancing national security cannot be over emphasised at this critical time of our national development.

“As such, vehicle owners must endeavour to ensure that when registering their vehicles, the appropriate channel is religiously followed and third party involvement should be completely avoided in all aspects of vehicle registration.”

“Accordingly, all Number Plates produced by the FRSC can only be obtained by vehicle owners from the Motor Licensing Authorities of the various States and the FCT.

“Anything outside this makes you vulnerable to obtaining fake and unauthorised vehicle identification and such vehicles can not be captured in the NVIS portal, ” he said.

(NAN)