The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a judgment stopping the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), officially known as the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, from arresting motorists, impounding vehicles, or imposing fines on road users across the Federal Capital Territory.
A three-man panel of the appellate court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal filed by the agency and affirmed that its officers lack constitutional powers to stop vehicles on the road.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi held that the VIO’s appeal had “no merit whatsoever,” insisting that the agency had acted outside the scope of its legal mandate.
The court consequently awarded a N1 million cost against the VIO in favour of rights activist and public interest lawyer, Abubakar Marshal, who filed the originating suit.
Marshal had approached the Federal High Court after VIO officials forcefully stopped him at Jabi District, Abuja, on December 12, 2023, and confiscated his vehicle without any legal basis.
In the earlier judgment, Justice Nkeonye Maha of the Federal High Court ruled that no extant law empowered the VIO to stop, impound, seize, or impose fines on motorists, describing such actions as oppressive, unlawful, and a violation of fundamental rights.
Marshal, in his suit, asked the court to determine whether the officials’ actions did not constitute a breach of his rights to dignity, freedom of movement, and protection from arbitrary harassment.
The court agreed, issuing a perpetual injunction restraining the VIO and its agents from impounding vehicles or imposing fines on motorists in the FCT.
The Appeal Court’s affirmation on Thursday effectively cements that ruling and restricts the agency’s operational powers to vehicle inspection at designated centres, as provided in law.
The judgment is expected to have wide implications for motorists in Abuja, many of whom have long accused VIO officers of extortion, harassment, and arbitrary impoundment of vehicles.
With this ruling, the VIO now risks contempt proceedings should its officials continue the practice of stopping or impounding vehicles on Abuja roads.
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