Despite a subsisting court order restraining the Nigeria Police Force from enforcing the tinted glass permit policy, officers in Calabar, Cross River State, have continued to stop motorists and impound vehicles under the guise of enforcement.

A team of journalists who monitored the situation yesterday observed about 15 police officers and traffic wardens stationed in front of the Akim Police Station along IBB Way, stopping vehicles and demanding tinted glass permits from drivers.

The officers were seen impounding cars, including some without tinted windows, and questioning motorists over the alleged use of “factory-fitted tinted glass.” One victim, journalist John Osakwe, recounted how he was stopped while driving past the station.

“I parked and showed them all my complete papers,” he said. “But one of the officers claimed that my front glass was different from the back glass.

And demanded a permit. I told him the vehicle glass is not tinted.” Osakwe said the officer forcibly removed his car key and insisted they had orders “from above” to impound any vehicle with different glass shades.

“When I called the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Irene Ugbo, she asked me to hand over the phone to the officer. After a brief discussion, my key was returned, but the officer still insisted I must get a tinted glass permit for N30,000,” he added. Another motorist, Edem Udofia, stated that his commercial bus was seized and taken to the station on the same grounds.

“They said my bus glass was dark even though it came that way from the factory. I’ve not gone in yet, I’m still trying to find someone who can help. My family depends on that bus,” he lamented.

Reacting to the development, Mba Ukweni, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, condemned the police action, describing it as unlawful and in contempt of the court.