It Is Not Within The Statutory Powers Of The Police To Demand For Driver's License

 By Solomon Akobe

It is no longer breaking news that Police Officers in Nigeria have been banned from demanding for Custom papers and tinted glass permits. But, for those who are not yet aware, it is necessary to state that the ban was made public via a tweet on Sunday by the Nigeria Police, Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi. The said tweet reads in part:

“No policeman should demand your customs papers. Except they are on joint operation, but not just on mere routine checks. We have suspended issuance of tinted glass permits, so we don’t expect our men to disturb Nigerians on this. We are to stop any vehicle with tints, search the vehicles, and its occupants, but not to delay for not having tinted glass permits.”

The above is the Police's tweet that have got Nigerians talking commendably about the current Police hierarchy.

But, then, I would say that the above directives are not enough; the ban should not have been limited to Custom Papers and tinted permits but should also have been extended to Driver's License.

Without going into deep legal arguments, there is no doubt that the issuing authority of Driver's License is the Federal Road Safety Commission pursuant to the powers conferred on the Agency under the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act. Thus, I make bold to say that, the same way that the Nigeria Custom Service is the issuing authority of custom duties and other related papers, so also does the Federal Road Safety Commission issue Driver's License to Car owners and/or users in Nigeria.

Therefore, the Nigeria Police obviously do not have business with issues relating to Driver's License in Nigeria. If by any stretch of imagination their duties are extended to demanding for Driver's License, then we would be making mess of the functions and duties of the officers and men of the Federal Road Safety Commission.

Beyond making mess of the FRSC, allowing Police Officers to continue to ask or demand for drivers license from motorists will only but divert the attention of Police officers from their primary and fundamental duty of crime detection to other petty issues of less public importance. 

In a country where bandits hold sway to the extent of overtaking the infamous Boko Haram in terms of popularity in their atrocious demystification of the Nigerian security architecture leading to daily loss of lives, it is indeed a sad commentary for the Nigeria Police to concern itself with infinitesimal issues as far as the precarious security condition of Nigeria is concerned. Bandits do not drive with Driver's License. 

Boko Haram do not move with Driver's License. As a matter of fact, their identities as Nigerians remain largely unknown. Armed robbers will not even stop for the Police to conduct a search; they will simply throw out few naira notes to the wind and the Police Officers would respond by hailing them as "Leaders", Baba ooo", "Oga at the top", "Chairman" and lots more!

Hence, it appears that it is only law-abiding citizens of this country that are constantly harassed by Police Officers to produce their vehicle "particulars". Most times, if not all the time, the demand for these so called "particulars" are only activated if a motorist fails or refuses to "settle" or "roja" (as is informally said often) the stop and search Police Officers on the road.

Thus, I hold the firm view that despite all the enormous powers given to the Police under section 4 of the Police Act, it cannot be overstretched to include or accommodate exercise of powers or duties that are statutorily ascribed to other law enforcement agencies one of which is the Federal Road Safety Commission. For the avoidance of doubt, section 4 of the Police Act, 2020 which relates to the general duties of the Police, provides,

"The Police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or outside Nigeria as may be required of them by, or under the authority of this or any other Act".

Glaringly, the above provision adds a caveat on the powers of the Police in the enforcement of other laws and regulations in Nigeria. That caveat is to the effect that the Police must be directly charged with the responsibility of enforcing such laws or regulations. Now, can it be said that the Nigeria Police is "directly charged" with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act when the Act itself established an Agency (i.e. the FRSC) on which it placed the burden of enforcing its own provisions? My humble answer is in the negative!

Concomitantly, I hold the strong view that it is not within the statutory duties or powers of the Officers and Men of the Nigeria Police to demand for Driver's License from Motorists. Hence, it will only amount to a prostitutional chase of needless enforcement if Police Officers are allowed to gallivant by ascribing unto themselves duties which they do not, in the eyes of the law, have authority to perform, and to begin to arrogate unto themselves powers which the law has not donated to them.

Thus, while commending the IGP for taking the bold step of banning his men from demanding for Custom papers and tinted permits from vehicular road users, I also call on him to further ban his men from demanding for Driver's License from motorists in Nigeria. In my view, the only documents that Police Officers are authorized to demand from motorists should be documents relating to Proof of Ownership especially where there is reasonable suspicion that the vehicle is a stolen vehicle or that same was used to commit crime. Driver's License should not even cross the mind of a police officer at all while conducting stop and search duty.

 If for instance a motorist doesn't have driver's license or is in possession of a fake one, what would the Police Officer do? Would he charge the driver to court or he would hand him over to the FRSC for sanction as prescribed under the FRSC (Establishment) Act? Since a police officer is not trained on how to detect a fake Driver's License like the FRSC Officers, how can he know the fake one? Since Nigeria Police Officers have been harassing Nigerians on the road about driver's license, custom duties, tinted permits, and other documents which they infamously refer to as "particulars", how man persons have they charged to court on that account? 

As a matter of fact, such matters do not even go beyond the road as far the driver is willing to give money to the officers. For the stubborn drivers, their case may reach the Police station after which the case becomes closed once money is paid. That's just the simple testament of the operational reality of the current Police system that we have in Nigeria, and it is indeed, a sad commentary.

*Solomon Akobe is a Law Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, Kogi State University, Anyigba. He can be reached via akobe4onu@gmail.com.