A federal high court in Abuja has barred the directorate of road traffic services, also known as the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), from stopping and impounding vehicles, as well as imposing fines on motorists.
The ruling was delivered on Wednesday by Evelyn Maha, the presiding judge, in a suit filed by human rights lawyer, Marshal Abubakar.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1695/2023, listed the director of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, its area commander, the team leader of the Jabi branch, and the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT) as respondents.
Maha ruled that the VIO, which operates under the control of the FCT minister, has no legal authority to stop or impound vehicles, and to fine drivers.
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She described such actions as oppressive, wrongful, and unlawful, issuing a restraining order against the respondents from impounding vehicles or imposing fines.
The court also issued a perpetual injunction, prohibiting the VIO and its agents from violating citizens’ rights to freedom of movement, presumption of innocence, and ownership of property without lawful justification.
The judgment was delivered via Zoom and upholds Abubakar’s argument that the VIO’s actions were beyond their legal powers.
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