Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has suspended the enforcement of the Motor Vehicles (Prohibition of Tinted Glass) Act, 1991, following mounting public pressure and the intervention of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
The suspension, announced on Thursday by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, comes after a Monday meeting between the police chief and an NBA delegation led by the association’s president, Afam Osigwe (SAN), at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
Hundeyin said that while there was “no clear court order” halting enforcement, the police decided to suspend the exercise “out of consideration for the interest of Nigerians and regard for the NBA,” pending the hearing of a motion on notice at the Federal High Court in Warri on 16 October 2025.
“The Nigeria Police Force, while noting that there is no clear court order stopping the enforcement of the Motor Vehicles (Prohibition of Tinted Glass) Act, 1991, has, out of consideration for Nigerians, temporarily suspended the enforcement pending the outcome of the case,” Hundeyin said.
He added that a joint Police–NBA committee had been inaugurated to strengthen collaboration between both institutions, while urging motorists to use the suspension period to regularise their documentation and ensure compliance with vehicle regulations.
Egbetokun, he said, remained committed to enforcing laws “with fairness, transparency, and respect for citizens’ rights.”
The NBA’s counsel in the case, Olakunle Edun (SAN), confirmed the suspension, saying it followed the court’s restraining order and the Monday meeting with the police top brass. “It was resolved that the tinted glass permit enforcement should be suspended in view of the court order,” Edun said. “Both parties will continue to work together on how best to resolve the contending issues.”
The development comes after the Federal High Court in Warri ordered the police to suspend enforcement of tinted glass permits in John Aikpokpo-Martins v. Inspector-General of Police & Nigeria Police Force (Suit No. FHC/WR/CS/103/2025), pending the determination of the substantive case.
Despite the order, reports had surfaced of continued enforcement in several states, including Cross River, where motorists accused officers of harassment and extortion.
In Calabar, journalist John Osakwe said officers stopped him and demanded ₦30,000 to release his car, while another resident, Edem Udofia, said his commercial bus was impounded over factory-fitted tinted windows.
Legal experts, including Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mba Ukweni, criticised the police for flouting the Warri court’s directive. “The court has restrained the police from impounding vehicles or harassing drivers over tinted glasses. The police must comply,” he said.
The Federal Capital Territory Police Command later confirmed that enforcement had been suspended nationwide. Its spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, told AIT that the Force had now received the court order and would “maintain the status quo until the case is decided.”
Adeh also clarified that payments for tinted glass permits are processed online and remitted directly to the Treasury Single Account. “The registration and payment processes are fully digital. Policemen only verify documents; they are not authorised to collect money from motorists,” she said.
The decision to suspend enforcement marks a temporary reprieve for motorists who have long complained of arbitrary arrests and extortion by police officers invoking the decades-old tinted glass law.
