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• Backlashes, legal battles threaten police enforcement
•Police gradually turning self to revenue-generating agency
By Olakunle Olafioye
The catcalls against the re-introduction of tinted vehicles permit announced by the Nigeria Police may not thaw any time soon. Barely three weeks to the October 2, 2025 date for the official commencement of the enforcement of the permit, after two consecutive deferments of the take-off set for the implementation, controversy surrounding the announcement of the policy has continued to come fast and thick.
A statement announcing the re-introduction of the permit released by the police on April 30, 2025 had hinged the necessity for the reactivation of the policy which was halted in 2021, saying the move became necessary following widespread public complaints about the harassment of motorists over the use of tinted windows.
The issuance of tinted glass permit was discontinued four years ago by the then Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, following a revelation that some individuals were fraudulently acquiring it and SPY number plates, which are specifically for the official use of some categories of corporate bodies.
The statement which announced the reactivation of the policy and signed by the immediate past Force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, stated that the initiative was a reflection of the need for a clear, transparent, and accountable process for regularising factory-fitted tinted glass on vehicles. “With modern automobiles increasingly manufactured with tinted windows, it has become essential to provide a standardised system that accommodates legitimate use while ensuring public safety.
“Vehicles (with tinted windows) have often been exploited for criminal purposes, including kidnapping, armed robbery, ‘one-chance’ scams, and other forms of banditry. Their use hampers police visibility and impedes effective law enforcement, thereby contributing to public insecurity,” it stated, and concluded that the reactivation of the permit system was a strategic move to identify lawful users, such as individuals with medical requirements or members of the security community, while preventing misuse for criminal activities.
The Nigeria Police had in June 2021, in the wake of widespread criminal activities in the country, declared a ban on the usage of tinted-glass vehicles in the country. Since then police officers and the motoring public had engaged in serious controversies over the use of vehicles with tinted glasses.
The endless altercations between the police and motoring public reached its crescendo in February 2024 resulting in the arrest and the trial of three police officers following an allegation of professional misconduct against the officers, who demanded a tinted-glass permit from motorists.
But as the harassment and extortion of motorists by unscrupulous police officers continued unabated across the country, the House of Representatives waded into the matter and called on police authorities to halt indiscriminate harassment of motorists on the issue. The lawmakers also ordered the release of vehicles impounded solely for violations related to tinted-glasses and covered number plates, provided there were no other infractions.
However the latest move by the Nigeria Police to reactivate the issuance of tinted glass permit has since been enmeshed in controversies with the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun and the police force coming under heavy knocks for the reason adduced by the force to justify its re-introduction. A security expert, Lawal Sadiq likened the move to an attempt of attending to a ringworm infection but leaving leprosy to fester.
Although Lawal conceded that there was a need to regulate the usage of tinted-glass vehicles in the country in order to guard against its abuse, He noted that the war against criminalities in the country might continue to suffer defeats unless the nation invests more in intelligence gathering to be able to effectively combat crimes.
His words: “During random stop and search by security agents on our highways the chances of stopping vehicles with tinted-glasses by the police is higher than those of vehicles with transparent glasses. So, this reality has made the use of vehicles with tinted glasses in perpetrating crime less attractive to criminals. And more importantly, in Nigeria today, most of the major attacks by criminals are no longer carried out on the highways or roads where motorists using tinted windows would pass. What this therefore means is that our security operatives should focus more on intelligence gathering in addressing the insecurity.”
Similarly, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has also expressed its opposition to the decision by the police to revive the issuance of the tinted-glass permit, describing the move as illegal. The association has therefore instituted a suit challenging its legality. The decision to challenge the policy, according to a statement by the Chairman of the association’s Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), Professor Paul Ananaba, (SAN) follows one of the key resolutions of the National Executive Council of the NBA at its pre-conference NEC meeting held on the 23rd day of August 2025 in Enugu.
The NBA, at the meeting, resolved to challenge the legality of the policy, which it noted raised, “serious concerns of threats to and violation of citizens’ fundamental rights, including the dignity of human person, right to privacy, right to freedom of movement and the right to own movable property as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.”
The introduction of the policy was subsequently followed by the launch of a digital portal ( HYPERLINK “http://possap.gov.ng/” \t “_blank” possap.gov.ng) through which the application for the permits were to be processed. The NBA, however, expressed concerns bordering not only on the legality of the policy but also on transparency, harassment and extortion of the citizens by men of the Nigerian Police.
“We are being informed that the portal and the policy are to be managed by a private vendor and there is no indication that the funds generated from the enforcement of the purported policy will go into the Federation Account,” the statement reads in part.
While noting that the IGP had extended the commencement date of the enforcement of the policy to 2nd of October, 2025, the NBA claimed it had received reports of several cases of harassment and extortion of Nigerians by the police on the basis of the policy.
“Despite the fact that the date for the commencement of the enforcement of the purported policy has been extended to the 2nd day of October 2025, there have been several reported cases of harassment and extortion of the citizens by policemen at checkpoints on the basis of this same policy, thus raising serious concerns of threats to and violation of citizens’ fundamental rights to the dignity of human person, right to privacy, right to freedom of movement and the right to own movable property guaranteed as by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
“Furthermore, the introduction and proposed enforcement of the tinted glass permit policy has raised several other genuine concerns including the validity of the Motor Tinted Glass (Prohibition) Act (Decree 1991), a military-era law under which the police has sought refuge. A critical scrutiny of the Act would confirm concerns that the legislation may be unable to satisfy the test of a law reasonably justifiable in a democratic society under Section 45 of the 1999 Constitution as to justify reliance on it to deprive citizens of their rights to privacy and free movement.
“Moreover, the fact that the legislation does not make provision for renewal of tinted glass permits or payment of fees for renewal are serious issues which clearly reveal that the policy lacks statutory foundation,” the statement read.
The NBA also picked a hole in the decision by the police to direct the public to make the payment for the permit into a private account, saying, “furthermore, that payment for the permit is being made into a private account: PARKWAY PROJECTS Account No: 4001017918 raises serious concerns of transparency surrounding the utilisation of funds realised from the exercise given that the account is neither domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria nor associated with the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“Against the above backdrop, the Nigerian Bar Association, through its Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) has on Wednesday the 2nd September 2025 instituted a public interest action before the Federal High Court, Abuja in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/182/2025 between: The Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association v. The Inspector General of Police & Anor essentially, challenging the legality of the tinted glass permit policy.
“As we await the assignment of the suit to a judge, we urge all parties to the suit to respect the judicial process, the fundamental rights of Nigerians, suspend the enforcement of the Policy while awaiting the pronouncement of the Court on this vexed matter,” the statement read.
Not a few Nigerians have equally criticised the police for re-introducing the permit which was stopped four years ago. Majority of those who spoke to Sunday Sun expressed the fear that the move would further worsen the harassment of the motoring public by police officers. Austin Adikpe posited that the reactivation of the policy on tinted permits is an indirect way of enriching police officers on stop and search duty, whom he noted would exploit the law to extort motorists.
“I have always maintained that the police officers in Nigeria will always enforce any law made in this country to their own advantage. The introduction of tinted glass permits has automatically made those driving vehicles with tinted glasses victims of extortions to our police officers. Just a few days ago, I drove past a team of policemen and saw two different cars with tinted glasses parked at a checkpoint. Of course, as a Nigerian, you could easily guess how the encounter would end. Introducing such measures at a time when Nigerians are struggling to survive is never a good testimony about a government that claims it is interested in ameliorating the suffering of the people,” Adikpe noted.
Another motorist, Samson Idowu, expressed concern over what he termed a subtle move to turn the Nigeria Police to a revenue-generating agency. Last year it was E-CMR, this year it is tinted-glass permit. What is the Nigerian government turning the police into? A revenue-generating agency? The whole idea is still strange to me. The police have so much on their neck to deal with. Our country is still battling an unprecedented level of crimes and criminality, so we cannot afford to distract the police with another task of generating revenue for the government. The issuance of tinted permits will in the long run become a major distraction if we allow it,” Idowu argued.
Meanwhile, a popular Nollywood actor, Joseph Daniels, has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prevail on the IGP to reverse the directive on the issuance of tinted glass permits. The actor who made the appeal in a viral video on social media said the introduction of permit for cars with tinted glass will not stop kidnapping as argued by the police boss,
His words: “The whole world now has cars with tinted glasses at the back. The front glasses are plain. So if there is going to be a law against the use of cars with tinted glasses it should relate to those who tint their front glasses with films for medical reasons or so. The least the police should do is to ask the driver to wind down so as to be able to see those inside because the excuse is that they want to fight kidnapping. The police should also check the boots. I support that. But Nigerians must not be made to suffer on this account. The permit does not change anything; it will not stop kidnapping
“Requesting people to bring tinted permits does not change anything; it will not stop kidnapping. Mr. President, Nigerians are suffering, we shouldn’t add more to it. Please intervene and let the Inspector General of Police reverse this law,” he appealed.
