The Federal Capital Territory Administration has impounded more than 700 vehicles as part of its ongoing clampdown on criminally minded motorists and traffic offenders in Abuja.
The Director of the Department of Security Services, Adamu Gwary, made this known during a late-night stop-and-search operation conducted on Monday at the Apo-Wassa junction and Karu axis of the Federal Capital Territory.
Represented by the Secretary of the Command and Control Centre, Dr. Peter Olumuji, Gwary said the operation marked the second phase of Operation Sweep Abuja Clean, a joint security initiative aimed at curbing rising incidents of “one-chance” robberies and recovering stolen vehicles.
“As at now, in Operation Sweep, we have impounded over 700 vehicles from both the first and second phases,” he said. “The operation has drastically reduced the incidence of one chance to the barest minimum.”
He explained that intelligence gathered from victims showed that most vehicles used in one-chance operations were illegally tinted, unregistered, or carried fake number plates.
“Our stop-and-search exercise has made it clear to criminals that no matter where they are in the FCT, the team will always reach them,” Gwary noted, warning motorists — especially commercial drivers — against using tinted glass.
“Most of the victims we have interrogated said the vehicles they boarded were tinted,” he added.
The task force, according to him, recovered seven stolen vehicles in the last week alone.
Also speaking, the Head of Operations at the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), Deborah Osho, said the joint enforcement team had intensified efforts to rid the city of unpainted, unregistered, and improperly tagged taxis often linked to criminal activity.
“Most of the one-chance vehicles either have fake number plates not traceable to the actual vehicles or operate as unpainted taxis, making them difficult to identify,” Osho explained. “Today in Karu, you can see the huge number of vehicles apprehended. This is sending a clear message that Abuja is too hot for criminals.”
