Lawmakers in the country have reportedly stopped the use of
official number plates on their vehicles over fear of kidnapping and murder.
This comes after a lawmaker from Kano State, Garba
Umar-Durbunde, was kidnapped by gunmen along the Abuja-Kaduna Road, after which
he reportedly paid N10m ransom to secure his freedom.
Also, Senator Jonah Jang’s aide was killed last weekend, in
an attempt to abduct his boss.
A member of the House of Representatives told Punch that it
was no longer safe to use official plate numbers, because of the level of
insecurity in the country.
“Look around, how many members do you see using their number
plates with ‘Rep’ boldly written and displayed?
“Before now, it was fashionable to do so. The number plates
could open the way for you because it identified you as a VIP; but not anymore
because of security concerns.
“These days, people do not want to be identified as
lawmakers. When a member uses the official number plate, you will find out that
it will be covered.
“Covering the plates ordinarily means that they are not
riding in the vehicles, but the truth is that they are there in them.
“Generally, they want to keep a low profile. Some prefer
that they are not noticed at all than for them to be noticed with a retinue of
policemen, which draws attention,” he said.
The Senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District,
Adesoji Akanbi, admitted that he has stopped going on road trips except it is
unavoidable.
He said: “I believe that it is the duty of the government to
protect lives and properties. Either as a lawmaker or not, the government owes
you that duty. But being a lawmaker exposes you to such people (criminals) more
and I believe that the onus is on all of us (lawmakers) to take our security
seriously.
“Someone like me did not believe in going around with
persons for security but right now, I have to start thinking about it. I didn’t
believe that there was the need to move about with security detail, the reason
being that I am loved in my constituency and connected with them.
“But it is getting beyond that now and we now have to take
our security seriously. The law enforcement agencies must also support us
lawmakers.”
He added, “Of course, road travels have disappeared on my
radar especially now that the airports are operating. It is now suicidal to go
on road trips unless something urgent happens and there are no flights.”
By Ifreke Inyang
