Following the lockdown directive by the Federal Government, Federal Road Safety Corps, has ordered the shutdown of the driver’s licence database centres with immediate effect.

However, the Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, says applicants could use the by-pass mode to process a licence which would be delivered after the lockdown period.

Oyeyemi stated that he had notified the Chairman and Secretary of the Joint Tax Board about the temporary shutdown of the DLCs nationwide.

Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, said this in a statement in Abuja, saying the shutdown was aimed at sustaining “existing endeavours already put in place by the Federal Government to curtail further spread of the coronavirus menace.”

The Corps Marshal had in the wake of the pandemic directed all DLCs to maintain proper hygiene through the provision and use of water, soap and alcohol-based sanitisers at the centres.

It said, “You would recall that the Corps Marshal had earlier advised applicants to avoid physical capture at this critical moment by exploring the by-pass option.

“It is, therefore, to be noted that the by-pass option is applicable only to applicants who intend to renew their licences, not fresh applicants.”

Kazeem explained that the closure of the DLCs would not affect the operations of the Corps, noting that operatives had been deployed to render required essential services in collaboration with other security and intelligence agencies to enforce both the Presidential and state government’s directives on the restriction of movement.