Covering Number Plates Attracts Jail Terms, Police Warn Motorists

July 22, 2024

The Lagos State Police Command has reiterated that it is illegal for vehicle owners and drivers to cover their number plates.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in a post on X.com on Monday, stating that the act violatef the National Road Traffic Regulations.

Hundeyin wrote: “Covering of number plates is against the provisions of the National Road Traffic Regulations.

“When convicted, punishment ranges from fines to prison terms. Ignorance is not an excuse under the law. Above all, forewarned is forearmed!”

He also shared excerpts from the regulations, which mandated clear visibility of number plates both day and night.

The document reads: “Each Identification Number Plate must be reflective and so made that any letter, numeral or other identifying mark displayed on it are legible at day time and night in clear weather and must be visible and recognizable at a distance of not less than 60 metres by the driver of the immediate following vehicle and in the case of a motorcycle at a distance of 30 metres.

“All vehicles, private and commercial, shall as from the commencement of these Regulations, have on them the Vehicle Identification Number Plates referred to in this regulation and it shall be an offence for any vehicle not to have the said Identification Number Plates.”

On December 2023 the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, stated that just as it was compulsory for all vehicles to be duly registered, it was also compulsory to make the registration numbers visible at all times.

He, however, said there were exceptions for “pennant officers” and heads of the three arms of the government who used pennants or flags on their official cars.