Police To Crack Down On Vehicles With Tinted Glass – IGP

By Ayodele Oni

Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, has maintained that vehicles with tinted glass are threat to effective policing.

He expressed support for a nationwide prohibition of heavily tinted vehicles, stating that he would favour such a measure if the decision rested entirely with him.

Speaking in Abuja during an engagement with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Disu said excessively tinted vehicles present significant security concerns, as they are often linked to criminal activities such as kidnapping, armed robbery, and “one-chance” operations.

His comments came in response to concerns raised by NBA President Afam Osigwe (SAN), who opposed the commercialisation and repeated renewal of tinted glass permits.

 The police chief insisted that current security realities require stricter controls on tinted vehicles.

He recalled that during his tenure as Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), investigations into “one-chance” syndicates revealed that many of the vehicles used by the criminals had heavily tinted windows.

Disu noted that a substantial number of the 27 vehicles recovered from such operations were equipped with dark tints, a trend he said reinforces concerns about their misuse by criminals.

He also condemned the growing practice of installing extremely dark tints on windscreens and rear windows, describing it as a threat to effective policing.

According to him, such modifications hinder security personnel from identifying vehicle occupants during routine checks and increase risks for officers carrying out their duties.

The IGP emphasized that the law permits tinted glass only for individuals with legitimate medical or security needs, and even then, the tint should not be so dark as to obstruct visibility.

He disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force would soon commence a nationwide crackdown on illegally tinted vehicles, stressing that authorities would no longer tolerate vehicles with windows that completely conceal occupants.

While affirming the association’s support for police regulation of tinted windows, Osigwe argued that the permit system should not be transformed into a revenue-generating venture.

According to him, once a vehicle’s details have been properly captured in a central database, there should be no need for periodic permit renewals.

He also maintained that the management of tinted glass permits should remain solely under the control of the police rather than being outsourced to private firms that collect fees on the force’s behalf.

Osigwe, however, acknowledged the need for law enforcement agencies to take action against vehicles with tints so dark that occupants cannot be identified by security personnel.