The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a previous judgment that strips the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), widely known as the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), of the authority to stop vehicles, confiscate automobiles, or impose fines on motorists across the nation’s capital.
A three-member appellate panel delivered the unanimous decision, agreeing entirely with the earlier findings of the Federal High Court. The court dismissed the appeal filed by the DRTS and ruled that its challenge lacked merit.
Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi, who delivered the lead judgment, affirmed that the VIO acted outside the powers granted to it under the law.
She further awarded a cost of N1 million against the traffic agency in favour of rights advocate and public interest lawyer Abubakar Marshal, who initiated the original suit.
Marshal had approached the courts after an encounter on December 12, 2023, when VIO operatives stopped him around the Jabi District of Abuja and impounded his vehicle without offering any lawful basis.
In his application, he argued that the officials’ actions were arbitrary, oppressive, and a clear violation of his fundamental rights.
The Federal High Court earlier presided over by Justice Nkeonye Maha had agreed with Marshal, ruling that no existing legislation empowers VIO officials to forcibly halt vehicles, seize them, or levy fines for alleged offences.
The judge held that such actions amount to unlawful interference and therefore cannot stand.
In granting the reliefs sought in the fundamental rights enforcement suit, Justice Maha also issued an order restraining the VIO and its agents from carrying out such practices in the future, describing any such conduct as unconstitutional and abusive.
With Thursday’s decision by the appellate court, the restrictions remain firmly in place, reinforcing earlier judicial warnings that regulatory agencies must operate strictly within the confines of the law.
