It may sound strange, but it’s true: many car or motorcycle owners are using fake registration numbers which have no record at the Ministry of Transport of some states. Stranger still, drivers or riders of such vehicles may not be aware of it. This much was revealed by Liade Awesu, a Lagos-based specialist in printing and issuing such fake number plates, who was nabbed last week in Ibadan.
Awesu, who operated at Licensing Offices in metropolitan Lagos, said he has been in the illegal business for the past three years; and had made a fortune from it. According to him, his modus operandi was to stand at the entrance of Licensing Offices in Lagos, cornering anybody he suspected to be in need of number plate and offering to provide it. He said many people fell easy prey to his antics because they wanted to avoid the stress involved in the system, adding that they did not even mind paying higher than the official price as long as they could sit somewhere and get the plates quickly.
Awesu said he was aided in his nefarious activities by government licensing officers who encouraged number plate seekers to patronise him because of the huge returns he made to them on every number plate he sold. His words: “I work at the licensing offices in Lagos, not as a staff but as an agent and tout. I go from one licensing office to the other. If business is dull in one licensing office, I quickly move to another. The licensing officers know me very well so they don’t disturb me. Besides, I give them huge returns. What I do is that when I see somebody coming for number plate, I would run and meet the person and tell him or her that I can get it for him or her. Some will shun me while some will agree that I do it. Then, I will tell them the cost, which might even be higher than the official price. But they often fall victim because I would ask them to sit somewhere while I go to process everything for them. It is not all the time that I get them fake plates; sometimes I get them the real thing with the help of the officers. After all, we would spend the money together.”
Explaining how he was nabbed, Awesu said that he came to Ibadan to deliver a number plate to one of his customers, not knowing that an ambush had been laid for him by the police. Briefing the press on how Awesu was arrested, Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Azeez Bashiru said on 28 July, the house of the state Commissioner for Women Affairs in Ibadan was invaded by hoodlums who made away with some valuables. In the course of police investigation, it was discovered that the robbery was spearheaded by one Alhaji Moruf Akintunde, a.k.a. Tula. According to him, it was revealed that the thieves used one Toyota Hiace bus with registration number XV 361 AAA which belonged to the said Akintunde. He was subsequently arrested and confessed to owning the bus. He, however, said the number plate attached to the vehicle was procured for him by one Jayeola Oluremi. When arrested, Oluremi named Awesu as the person who always provided them with fake plates.
In a related development, a fake policeman named Adesola John Abiodun who attempted to steal a motorcycle at Mokola Police Station in Ibadan was arrested by the station guard on duty. Lying to the guard that he was a policeman and wanted to remove his motorcycle parked there, he was asked to produce his identity card, which was discovered to be fake. Upon searching the suspect’s house, a pair of mobile police uniform, a police wallet, some NURTW tickets and one vehicle registration plate with OY 3374 GY inscribed on it were recovered. Admitting the crime, he said he was pushed by devil.
Report By Gbenro Adesina.
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