Yet again, a court has ruled that the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) lacks the authority of arresting and confiscating road-plying vehicles.
Justice Evelyn Maha of the Abuja Federal High Court, on Wednesday, prohibited the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, also known as VIO, from mounting checkpoints to check motorists, arrest or impose a fine on them for any infractions.
Abubakar Marshal, a Human Rights lawyer, had sued the VIO agency as the fourth respondent.
Marshal made the agency’s Director of Road Transport, the Area Commander, the Team Leader at Jabi, and the FCT Minister as the other respondents in the case.
“The actions of the first to fourth respondents, under the control of the fifth respondent, are not empowered by any law or statute to stop, impound, or confiscate the vehicles of motorists or impose fines on them,” the Judge declared.
However, it was not the first court to issue a similar judgement against VIOs as many Nigerians complained about the duplication of road traffic enforcement bodies.
