Oyo abduction: Police deploy DIGs, target vehicles with concealed number plates

Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Tunji Disu, has assigned senior officers to enhance operations focused on rescuing students who were abducted in Oyo State.

The IGP has also mandated a nationwide initiative to target vehicles with concealed or modified registration numbers, which authorities claim are often utilized in criminal activities.

Disu announced these strategies during a meeting with senior police officials in Abuja on Tuesday. The meeting deliberated on the recent abduction of school children and teachers in Oyo State.

“The families and the citizens of Nigeria can rely on the full operational capacity of the force, in collaboration with other security agencies, dedicated to ensuring their safe return,” Disu stated. “We are making headway and will not cease our efforts until all hostages are safely home.”

The police chief indicated that deputy inspectors-general of police, DIGs, would be dispatched across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones starting June 15 to enhance supervision, operational coordination, and accountability within the police force.

Nigeria has been grappling with ongoing security issues, including banditry, kidnappings, insurgency, and communal violence, with school abductions emerging as a significant concern in recent years.

Disu noted that the police have achieved several operational successes since the last conference in March, which include the apprehension of suspected terrorists, kidnappers, murder suspects, and armed robbery suspects. He reported that 88 kidnapping victims have been rescued, alongside the recovery of firearms, ammunition, and stolen vehicles.

He mentioned a recent operation in the Federal Capital Territory where five suspected kidnappers were arrested before they could execute planned attacks in Abuja.

The police chief instructed commissioners of police in adjacent states to implement what he referred to as “handshake patrols” along key entry and exit routes to enhance intelligence sharing and close jurisdictional gaps that criminals often exploit.

Disu has further mandated an immediate enforcement initiative targeting vehicles that are operating without registration plates or those with concealed, altered, or defaced number plates.

“Any vehicle discovered lacking number plates, or possessing deliberately obscured, concealed, or tampered registration numbers, will be halted, impounded, and subjected to the relevant legal proceedings,” he stated.

The IGP noted that unregistered vehicles are often utilized by kidnappers, terrorists, and other criminal organizations to avoid detection.

He directed police commanders across the nation to enhance enforcement activities, emphasizing that there would be no preferential treatment for violators.