…Directs Free Legal Services Nationwide
By Yinka Giwa
As the Nigeria Police Force begins nationwide enforcement of the controversial tinted glass permit policy, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has stepped in, activating human rights committees across its 130 branches to offer motorists free legal services.
The NBA, in a letter to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Thursday, urged him to suspend the exercise, reminding him that the legality of the policy is already being challenged in court. The association warned that continuing with enforcement despite a pending suit amounts to lawlessness.
Kunle Edun, SAN, Chairman of the NBA’s Special Public Interest Litigation Committee (SPIDEL), said the association was ready to defend citizens against harassment. “We shall invoke the powers of the Court to ensure that the Nigeria Police Force does not trample on the rights of Nigerians. Any citizen that is harassed by the Police in the purported enforcement of the illegal tinted glass permit by the Police should be free to contact any of the NBA branches,” he said.
According to Edun, the enforcement drive risks turning the police into a revenue-generating agency. “It has been estimated that the Police may generate at least N3 billion within a month from monies that will be collected, thus turning the Police into a revenue-generating agency of the Federal government instead of focusing on the more serious issues of crime,” he alleged.
The NBA’s intervention was followed by reports that a vehicle belonging to a judge of the National Industrial Court was impounded in Delta State during the ongoing clampdown.
In its letter signed by SPIDEL, the association stressed that the police were bound to maintain the status quo since the matter is before the Federal High Court in Abuja. “Kindly permit us to restate the settled and ubiquitous position of the law that a party served with an Originating Process and especially a Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction has a duty imposed on him by law to maintain the status quo ante bellum until the case is determined by the court,” the NBA reminded the IGP.
The association also warned Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, against statements suggesting police would press ahead with enforcement, describing such pronouncements as contemptuous. “The NBA will therefore not hesitate to commence contempt/committal proceedings against CSP Benjamin Hundeyin if he fails to desist from clear utterances meant to downplay the authority of the court,” it cautioned.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1821/2025, is seeking judicial determination on whether the police can validly impose fees, annual renewals, and enforcement of the tinted glass permit without an enabling Act of the National Assembly. The NBA also wants the Motor Vehicles (Prohibition & Tinted Glass) Decree 1999 struck down for alleged inconsistencies with the Constitution.
The association is further asking the court to restrain the police from harassment, arrest, or extortion of motorists under the guise of tinted glass enforcement and to affirm the validity of existing permits without the need for renewal.
Listed as defendants in the suit are the Inspector-General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force.
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