Lagos residents have applauded the Federal High Court’s order stopping the Federal Road Safety Corps from confiscating vehicles with faded number plates.

The order issued by the court in Lagos also stopped FRSC from punishing or fining drivers of such vehicles.

In separate interviews on Tuesday, the residents urged the FRSC to ensure the production of quality number plates that would not fade.

Reacting to the development, Mike Ochonma, the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association chairman, declared that the court’s judgment was a welcome development.

Mr Ochonma wondered why the FRSC could inflict pain on vehicle owners by imposing fines for fading the number plates it produced.

According to him, FRSC manages production plants nationwide and supervises the quality of vehicle number plates distributed to all 36 states of the country and the FCT.

“I recall that under my leadership as NAJA chairman, I had issued a statement a few years ago condemning the so-called fines on faded number plates.

“In that official statement, NAJA advised the FRSC to improve on the low-quality materials used in the production of the number plates.

“The FRSC should as well make provision for replacement of faded number plates at a drastically reduced cost to lessen the financial burden on both the motorists and prospective vehicle owners,” he said.

Also commenting, Foster Obi of DfcNews urged the FRSC to let vehicle owners, at the point of issuance, know the duration of the number plates and the time of replacement.

He added that, with the benefit of hindsight, he supported the court order since the FRSC and the police could be overly reckless in enforcing laws.

According to him, if motorists were the ones that produced the number plates, then they or any other road manager can be excused the right to impound vehicles with faded number plates.

“In this case, it is the FRSC that created them. Most people allege that those involved collect enough money to produce genuine and quality number plates but end up using cheap materials to produce them.

“They now turn around to arrest drivers when the plates fade even in the shortest period of time; it is unjustifiable for the FRSC to arrest drivers or motorists as offenders in this matter,” he said.

Mr Obi pointed out that it would only be justified to arrest motorists as offenders if they did not comply to replace within a specified period.

He said, “Anything aside, this is repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience.’’

He said the court order also showed that even the action offended Nigerian jurisprudence.

A banker, Edith Ugo, said the government processed the number plates and wondered why FRSC would persecute the drivers of vehicles with faded number plates.

Also, Ogochukwu Okonkwo described the order as a welcome development and urged the FRSC not to produce inferior number plates and, in turn, punish drivers for their negligence.

The Lagos Division of the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Akintayo Aluko on January 17, ordered the FRSC to stop confiscating vehicles with faded number plates as well as punishing or fining drivers of such vehicles.

(NAN)