By Samuel Edu

No fewer than 35 vehicles have been impounded on Wednesday as the Ondo State Internal Revenue Service (ODIRS) enforced road tax.

The exercise which took place in various locations in Akure and simultaneously across major cities in Ondo State was done in collaboration with Nigeria Police, Vehicle Inspection Officers, Federal Road Safety Corps officers and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Speaking with The Hope, the State Licensing Officer at ODIRS, Mr Olajide Samuel said the essence of the exercise was to enforce compliance with the traffic law.

He said: “The traffic law is so clear that any vehicle that would ply government roads must be duly registered and with valid documents.

“Today we see some vehicles using old number plates, like some commercial vehicles which use local government number and we see some unregistered vehicles on the road.

“Also, we have so many old number plates on the road and vehicles with expired documents, while some do not have drivers licence.

Olajide added that the exercise was in line with the state government’s directive to ensure the safety of lives and property on the road.

The State Licensing Officer appealed to road users in the state to adhere to traffic laws, stressing that the state government want people that are using illegal plate number to collect the right number plate and those with expired documents should go for valid documents.

One of the affected vehicle owners, Akintola Marcus said he is a law abiding and always takes the renewal of his vehicle particulars seriously.

“Now that I have been booked, I will check up again to see if my papers are ready. I have been on it but the papers are not yet ready, I do not take matters that has to do with my vehicle particulars with levity.”