Sh*ck Twist: Police Halt Tinted Glass Crackdown After Court Ruling

The Nigeria Police Force has suspended the enforcement of vehicle tinted glass permits nationwide following a court order halting the exercise.

The spokesperson for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh, confirmed this during an interview on Africa Independent Television (AIT) on Wednesday.

Adeh explained that the suspension would remain in effect until the ongoing legal proceedings are concluded.

“Information reaching me from the PRO’s office is that the court order has been received, and enforcement of the tinted permit is now on hold pending the court’s verdict,” she said.

She further stressed that the police would abide fully by the directive and would not take any action until a final judgment is delivered.

“We are waiting for the verdict. We are not against the courts, and we will continue to wait until the ruling is given,” Adeh added.

The FCT police spokesperson clarified that the suspension applies across the country and covers all categories of tinted glass permit enforcement.

Addressing the purpose of the regulation, Adeh stated that the policy was introduced strictly for security reasons, not for revenue generation.

“The law was not made by us. We are only enforcers. The policy was purely security-driven because some criminals were using tinted vehicles to commit crimes, making it difficult for law enforcement to identify suspects,” she explained.

She cited cases where heavily tinted vehicles were used in robberies, kidnappings, and other violent crimes as the justification for the policy’s introduction.

Adeh dismissed public claims that the initiative was designed as a money-making scheme for the police, insisting that all payments were remitted directly into the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA).

“All payments for tinted permits go into the government’s TSA, not to the police,” she stressed.

She urged motorists to remain calm, cooperative, and law-abiding while awaiting the court’s final decision.

The tinted glass permit policy, introduced several years ago, requires vehicle owners with factory-fitted or modified tinted windows to obtain official clearance.

However, the enforcement has been heavily criticised by motorists and rights groups, who describe it as a source of harassment and extortion by some police officers.

With the latest court order, all enforcement activities have now been suspended nationwide pending judicial clarification on the legality and implementation of the policy.