Unmarked vehicles prohibited in Darfur

The governors of North and South Darfur have issued an order prohibiting the movement of vehicles and motorcycles without number plates. Osman Kibir, the Governor of North Darfur stressed that the prohibition does not allow any exception, and includes vehicles of the government and the regular forces. “Even the Governor’s vehicle will be seized in case it would be travelling without a number plate,” he told the press on Monday. He stated that the absence of number plates is “one of the negative aspects that needs to be resolved as part of the Darfur problem. It has contributed to insecurity”. “Many crimes are committed by offenders using vehicles and motorcycles without traffic plates.” In Nyala, the Governor of South Darfur State, Maj. Gen. Adam Mahmoud Jarelnabi, also instructed the seizure of any vehicle without plates, explaining that the “passage of vehicles without plates means an increase of crimes in South Darfur”. The secretary-general of the Public, Air and Land Transport Corporation in South Darfur, Shazali El Sheikh, had called upon the Governor of South Darfur State to put an end to such vehicles and take robust measures. Four drivers had died within four months in accidents with vehicles without number plates. “The offenders could not be persecuted and brought to justice in this way.” The citizens of Nyala in South Darfur, El Fasher in North Darfur, El Geneina in West Darfur, and Zalingei in Central Darfur have complained of murder, kidnapping and looting, carried out by government-backed militiamen driving vehicles without plates. “They are roaming in the towns day and night without being held accountable.” File photo: Militiamen in Darfur (archive Radio Dabanga)