The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a Federal High Court judgment restraining the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), also known as the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), from stopping, impounding, or confiscating vehicles on public roads, as well as from imposing fines on motorists.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member panel of the appellate court resolved all three issues raised for determination against the appellant, the DRTS.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi held that the appeal lacked merit. The court also awarded costs of ₦1 million against the DRTS and in favour of the respondent, rights activist and public-interest lawyer, Abubakar Marshal.
The appeal arose from a judgment of Justice Nkeonye Maha of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who had earlier declared that no existing law empowers the VIO to stop, seize, impound, or impose fines on motorists for any alleged traffic violations.
Marshal had filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit after VIO officials allegedly stopped him forcibly in the Jabi district of Abuja on December 12, 2023, and confiscated his vehicle without lawful justification.
He urged the court to hold that the actions of the VIO officials were wrongful, oppressive, unlawful, and a gross violation of his fundamental rights.
In granting all the reliefs sought, Justice Maha categorically restrained the DRTS and its agents from impounding or confiscating vehicles, or imposing fines on motorists, describing such actions as unlawful, oppressive, and a violation of constitutional rights.
