FRSC directs immediate withdrawal of ‘EGOOBALA’ (‘Blood Money’) customised number plate

Following public outcry the Federal Road Safety Corps  (FRSC)  has ordered the immediate withdrawal of the viral fancy number plate with the inscription ABUJA ‘EGOOBALA’.

Corps Marshal, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, handed the directive on Friday, February 1, 2022, saying that he did so “having known the true meaning of the word in Igbo language”.

The Corps Marshal said in a statement by Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, that the attention of organisation has been drawn to the fancy number plate, and noted that ‘Egoobala’ is an Igbo word that connotes blood money.

Oyeyemi assured that the Corps is committed to safer roads and ‘fuller lives’. He added: “The motoring public should be assured of our commitment  to ensure due diligence in all our processes and procedures in keeping with our corporate  mandate towards effective service delivery”.

Meanwhile outrage has continued to trail the approval and issuance of the customized number plate.

Expressing fury over the development a former Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) who prefers anonymous said he suspected some administrative lapses in the number plate approval in the first instance.

The retired ACP questions: “How can someone go ahead and issue this plate number at the office of the FRSC?”

Continuing, he says: “In case you don’t know EGOOBALA means BLOOD MONEY in Igbo language… Don’t the FRSC have translator?”