Court halts resumption of tinted glass permit enforcement

The Delta State High Court sitting in Orerokpe, has issued an interim order restraining the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) from resuming the enforcement of the tinted glass permit policy. The ruling, delivered by Justice Joe Egwu on Wednesday, suspends the police’s planned nationwide crackdown set for next year.
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‎The legal battle centers on a 1991 military-era decree that the police recently reactivated to mandate annual online permits for tinted vehicles. On December 15, Force spokesperson CSP Benjamin Hundeyin announced that enforcement would resume on January 2, 2026, due to the rise in crimes and the use of tinted vehicles for kidnapping and armed robbery.
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‎However, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has labeled the directive as executive recklessness, stating that the policy is an illegal revenue-generation scheme and that multiple court orders already directed the police to maintain the status quo.
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‎This injunction, bars the IGP and the NPF from enforcing the policy nationwide, pending the hearing of a substantive suit filed by activist Israel Joe.
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‎Justice Egwu’s order forbids the police from stopping, harassing, arresting, or extorting motorists under the guise of enforcing this specific policy, as it may lead to the violations of constitutional rights to privacy and movement.
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‎The court also restrained the police from using the Parkway Projects bank account to conduct for payments. This follows allegations by the NBA that the permit fees are being funneled into a private contractor’s account rather than the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
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‎The court warned that any officer who enforces the ban while the order is active could face committal proceedings for contempt.
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‎Meanwhile, the NPF insists that no final judicial pronouncement has declared the policy unlawful. They argue that as a security agency, they have a statutory responsibility to regulate tinted glass to curb crimes where occupants cannot be seen. The police claim previous suspensions were voluntary acts of respect for the public, not legal mandates.
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