Even with the defeat of Boko Haram terrorists, drivers whose vehicles bear number plates of North-east states face odium, suspicion and excessive scrutiny on the roads by security agents and wary road users. Francis Okoye, Maiduguri, Hussaini Jirgi, Damaturu, and Hussaini Hammangado, Yola write.
nsurgency in the North-east did not only hit the social and economic lives of the people, the long-drawn security crisis has also left a strong stigma on vehicles, bearing number plates of North-east states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Bauchi. Today, everyone on the road, especially within the North approaches vehicles bearing the number plates of these states with some degree of caution and suspicion. Worse is if the vehicle is a Volkswagon Golf car. Reason is that the man behind the wheel may just be conveying explosives or may have wired himself or other occupants for explosion.
In check points and roadblocks, vehicles bearing the number plates of states of the North-east are thus reasonably subjected to rigorous scrutiny by security agents. From the bonnet to the truck, such vehicles are thoroughly searched, so also the occupants, following the security threats Boko Haram terrorists have posed to the entire country from the region.
Prior to the emergence of Boko Haram terrorism, the vehicle number plates of Borno State proudly announce the state as “Home of Peace” because of the state’s once peaceful nature. Vehicle owners within and outside the state felt no scruples, licencing their vehicles in Borno State. It attracted no scorn or suspicion. With the insurgency and other activities of the despised Boko Haram sect, many refused to touch the state’s vehicle number plates, even with a long pole. All vehicle owners, who proudly brandished the number plates on their vehicles as people who have either lived in the state, or wished to let their relations know that they are from the state known for peace opted to avoid the state’s vehicle number plates like lepers.
Speaking on the effect of Insurgency on Borno vehicle number plates , Zubairu Modu, officer in charge of plate number registration at the Borno State’s Board of Internal Revenue told our correspondent that the crisis dealt a great blow on the sale of Borno vehicle number plates, thereby making the state incur a great revenue loss.
His words:” People are afraid of registering their vehicles with Borno number plates because when they go out of the state, they are either faced with stigmatization or severe security harassment. People have complained in my office that when they move out of Maiduguri with Borno number plates , those outside the states do see them as Boko Haram, especially the Igbos or Southerners who were on exodus from Borno to their home towns . These days, what southerners living in the state do is to register their vehicles in Abuja , Lagos, Kaduna or southern state number plates when moving out of Borno.
“Before if you come to my office , you can’t find me sitting like this, but now you can see that nothing is happening. Before the insurgency, we do register up to 40 vehicles with Borno number but now, hardly do we register up to five vehicles in a week. So you can see the level of damage the crisis has done to the revenue of the state through number plate registration.
“Every of my efforts to change people’s psychology on the number plate have failed . My plea to security operatives on the major roads outside Borno is to be soft on vehicles with Borno number plates . I want people to also know that there is no harm in plying Nigerian roads with Borno number plates as Nigerians are now better informed of the nature of Boko Haram war with the emerging peace in Borno.
Corroborating Modu, a Maiduguri-based South-easterner, Chief Jude Amucho said part of the reason motorists, especially those traveling out of the state don’t patrronise Borno number plates is that even if one travels to his village with a vehicle bearing Borno number plate, people will term the person Boko Haram.
Amucho further added that security operatives on the road outside Maiduguri don’t help matters as they apply high and embarassing security alert to every vehicle with Borno number plates.
“The security men pay more attention when they sight a vehicle with Borno number plate on the road for thorough search. They can single you out for search thinking that you carry a suicide bomer, IED or Boko Haram terrorists in the vehicle. I once faced such embarrassment when I travelled home with my vehicle. They singled me out of many vehicles and delayed me for over an hour and searched my vehicle thoroughly before I was released even though I did not see the justification for their action. Even down in my village, if I stop in front of a vehicle, somebody will shout, this Boko Haram man ‘commot for road’ and after these encounters , I did not waste time in changing my plate number.”
On his experience with Borno number plate, the HOD Administration, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Borno State Chapter, Alhaji Gana Shuwa said the Boko Haram crisis that rocked the state gave a denting image to Borno number plates as well as causing embarrassment to motorists plying Nigerian roads with the number plates of the state.
He said on so many occasions his members are subjected to ridiculous search in the hands of security men under the guise of hunting for Boko Haram terrorists while coveying passengers out of the state.
“The moment they sight you with Borno number plate, even if 100 vehicles are on the lane , they will single you out, search your passengers one after the other before letting you leave. In 2011 when we went for National Delegate Conference of the union, all vehicles entering Internatonal Conference Center, venue of the event were not stopped from entering the gate, but when the security men saw our Borno number plate, they asked us to park outside the gate and searched us before we were let in .
“My appeal to Nigerians and security agencies outside Borno is to have a change of mind set on anything from Borno because not everyone in Borno is Boko Haram . Even the real Boko Haram terrorists are in the bush and not in transport and private vehicles moving out of the state. People should rather than shun Borno number plate, encurage the state government by registering their vehicles with Borno number plates to foster the development of the state.” he said. End
Following the return of peace in Yobe State vehicle owners are now trickling into the Damaturu VIO office to buy the state’s numbers plates. The officers confirmed that the revenue they record from the sales of number plates to motorists in the state drastically came down due to the insurgents activities in the state.
Our correspondent was also told that since peace returned to the state, more people now apply for the registration new number, especially those who lost their cars in the insurgency and now bought new ones. Due to many loss of vehicles in the state as a result of the many Boko Haram attacks our correspondent gathered that the Damaturu VIO office embarked on number plates validation exercise, which has led to improved demands of the state’s number plates
Yobe State VIO officer told our correspondent that “Boko Haram activities in the state resulted in the loss of our revenue, people didn’t want to buy numbers plates here in Yobe due to the insurgency activities in the state. We wish to tell people in the state that by next month of May we will like to extend the operation (number plate) to all the 17 local government areas of the state.” According to the officer “We are faced a lot of problems because people fear to buy our number plates, because of their disappointment from security agents.
Before the activities of Boko Haram in Yobe, our correspondent was told that vehicle owners came all the way from Borno, Jigawa and Azare, Bauchi state to buy the Yobe number plates.
Speaking to our correspondent, a driver in Yobe said “we love Yobe state number plates but we are facing a lot of challengers from security people on the road. Though some call us Boko Haram number, we thank God we have peace in our state and northeast in general,” he said.
Chief Vehicle Investigation Officer (VIO ) in the state, who don’t want his name to be print, called on people of the state to patronise the state number plates instead buying those of other states.
According to the officer, over 55 per cent of vehicles are apprehended and charged to court for serious offenses related to number plates in the state, following the operation launched in the state from last year December to April this year.
The outgoing Acting Chairman, Board of Internal Revenue Adamawa state, Barrister Christopher Cromwell said sales of Adamawa number plates almost the basement level at the pick of the security crises on the state, when no one wanted to have anything to do with the state’s number plates, however, he disclosed that the situation is gradually changing with normalcy returning to the state. Some of the returnees to the state ,who lost their cars to insurgency attacks, he disclosed are buying new ones and no longer fear to license them in the state.
To recoup some of the lost revenue, Adamawa, like Yobe, Cromwell disclosed had to embark on vehicle number plate validation and verification exercise to weed out both the old and doubtful number plates in the state. This he said, had gone a long way in increasing the revenue state.
“This development resulted to increase in the internally generated revenue of the state.
We hope to extend the operation to all the local government area of the state, especially with the return of peace in the state,” Cromwell said.
The chief vehicle inspection officer (VIO ) in the state, Abdullahi Nyibangs admitted the decline in the sales of the state’s number plates, especially from violence wracked Michika and Madagali local government areas of the state.