Hello people,

Please find below the list of documents that cops at checkpoints have the right to ask for:

1. Driving License

2. Insurance Certificate

3. Certificate of Road Worthiness (Commercial vehicles only).

They do not have the right to ask for:

1. Vehicle purchase documents

2. Proof ownership (except if the vehicle is unregistered)

3. Receipt of plate number

4. ECMR

This is boldly written on their website, please check by yourself to confirm.

Advice: It will be wise to reduce the volume of your computer. There is a horrible song attached to the website!!!

Nigeria Police Site: www.nigeriapolice.org/

Thanks. But can you argue with the Police? Even the DPO will support his men, I advice we should have all the necessary and unnecessary documents to avoid carrying a bag of money (especially when on the highway)

I think people should begin to follow the law regarding things in Nigeria.

However, In actual fact, before you begin to argue with the police concerning documents (especially when you are alone on the motorway), make sure you have called someone to inform them of your whereabout, before you get missing and they don't find you or your body again. You may even be framed and charged so be warned and be careful!

Unfortunately, many Nigerians do not know their rights and a greater majority of those that know their rights are not ready to enforce them.

I only carry the registration and insurance and for over 4 years now I can't remember giving a police man any bribe because I make sure I have proper documentation at all times.

It is also important that there is a difference between insisting on your rights and insulting a policeman as a lot of people don't knwo how to communicate and as such they end up being in trouble for insulting the police man which is easier to prove anyway.

Its good u've mentioned dat dey dont have d right 2 ask 4 vehicle purchase docs because I've been kept 4 abt 4 hrs 4 d import vehicle papers of my car. den after we had "settled" one of dem adviced me 2 tear it up n go and swear an adfidavit saying dat it is missing den he now told me dat actually d police does not have d right 2 ask 4 it!!!

thumbs up! WE need more than anything else enlightenment. Even if we know what the system is right now, I just think we need to get some facts straight. Some policemen thnk it's their right n some motorists feel it's their obligation. Thumbs up once again.
Cheers!

argue with police and hear gbosa for your face ndem?

@Cynthia

It is not about hunger - it is about corruption, greed and outright quest to get what you dont have- it is not hunger.

While it it good to know the letter of the law regarding vehicle documents, most Nigerian policemen out on the streets are expected and mandated to submit cash returns to the head honcho at the end of each shift, and those funds are derived entirely from "contributions" made by motorists obliged to buy their freedom from real and imaginary traffic offences leveled by the police patrolmen.

Furthermore, policemen who do not aggressively seek bribes from motorists will inevitably be transfered to obscure guard details where the opportunities to extort a dishonest buck are limited to non-existent.  Only the cops who bring home the most bacon are considered worthy of repeat posting to traffic patrol duty on Nigerian roads.

In a nutshell, the MOST important paper required of Nigerian road users for presentation to the police force is PAPER MONEY, and this should be kept handy at all times and tendered immediately the key words " How is the weekend ? " are invoked by the arresting officer.

i think some people are exaggerating what the nigeria police does. 1st and 4most, u need to be polite to them as they are human beings like you. you also need to be friendly with them. if u have all your papers and obey intructions, they would be reluctant to ask you for money. even if they ask, it'll be more like begging. of course there are bad eggs among them but that's the challenge before their new leadership right now. it's only commercial drivers i believe have serious problems with police and i think its their cup of tea because most of them are actually assholes.

y are people crucifying the police so badly,am sure none of this has happened to the peeps ere except u are a danfo driver and the reason it will happen to u is because u refused to bribe them.and u know you're erring with the law.

how do u expect a policeman to react when you're absolutely rude and think of them as dirt.yes some policemen can be overly disruptive but u provoked him/her in the first place.

thanks for the info, IN ADDITION TO THE DRIVERS LICENSE AND THE INSURANCE , I ADVICE U HAVE A PRINTOUT FROM THE WEBSITE. AM PRINTING MINE NOW.

ruemu:

thanks for the info, IN ADDITION TO THE DRIVERS LICENSE AND THE INSURANCE , I ADVICE You HAVE A PRINTOUT FROM THE WEBSITE. AM PRINTING MINE NOW.

good thinking and dont forget to show it to them when they ask for papers.

The Nigerian Police suffers from a complex. Indeed one needs to be very careful when dealing with them. I believe in being nice to them and treating them with respect but not being patronising. Being rude will only worsen one's matter. Patience is key in dealing with them.

I agree with u all.

But imagine, i was stopped by police in abuja one day, after presenting them with all my papers, including ,my tint permit, do u know what bthey asked me for?

RAZOR BLADE! 

I then asked what for?

They said incase of accident i wouyld use it to cut off my seat belt. 

I still had to settle.

Jakumo:

In a nutshell, the MOST important paper required of Nigerian road users for presentation to the police force is PAPER MONEY, and this should be kept handy at all times and tendered immediately the key words " How is the weekend ? " are invoked by the arresting officer.

this guy never fails to have me in stitches but that was more to the point, if you value your life too much to place it on the line by arguing with a Nigerian policeman.

seun001:

y are people crucifying the police so badly,am sure none of this has happened to the peeps ere except u are a danfo driver and the reason it will happen to u is because u refused to bribe them.and u know you're erring with the law.

how do u expect a policeman to react when you're absolutely rude and think of them as dirt.yes some policemen can be overly disruptive but u provoked him/her in the first place.

U r just talking as if you don't know these people [Nigerian Police].
Am so sure you don't drive while travelling arround this country because if you do, well you have known what's up especially take for instance from Lagos to Benin road. Let me the rest of the story for you to tell.

It is a good thing you are talking about the police, I just had an encountered with them about 2 hours ago, and I can tell you the experience is not pleasant at all.
The car that I have been using for over 3 years, they turn around to say it a forged document I am using, all sort of excuss to collect money, at the end of the day, I had to leave the vehicle with and walk home.
Let nobody preach dipomacy because NPF does everything to collect money from you.
TO CUT THE STORY SHORT THEY REQUESTED FOR 40K.
I dont really know what to do now.

They are just bloody ARMED POLICE (I MEAN ROBBERS)

Thanks

brosieee all these 1 na long story, the police no need dese stuff for road wetin dem want na N20 bribe finish, d 1 wey get sense smal go collect N50, d one wey b like say ddem go scoool go colect N100, those 1 wey dey try small smal go collect N200

if dem say dem wan arrest u na road una go dey negotiate

NA FEW DEY DO THERE WORK

sometime ago a foreigner finish shopping and there was N20 change left, guess what,
d guy said, pls let me have the change I'll give it to UR POLICE.

1 thing for sure i know the police is programmed for failure, they need serious reform,

The Nigeria Police are really a big disgrace. Just yesterday i was stopped twice within 50 meters by 2 separate teams in surulere.
My papers were all complete, but this very hungry policeman had to look for something.
He opened my doors and started to search for the date of manufacture, it was really very funny, he couldn't find it so he asked me , i told him i had absolutely no idea ( i drive a 2001 ford explorer)
Next he accused of using tinted windows, i explained to him that the car was an American spec suv and comes standard with tints and that knowing the kind of police we have here, i actually went all out to change the tint to normal windows,he insisted that my boot windows was still tinted, at this moment i began to laugh, he got offended and invited his 'oga', a sergent, i guess when that one came and took a good look at me and heard the whole story, he just asked me to go, expecting me to say thank you i just drove away.
Its really sad, the police is now immigration, road safety, lasma and what have you, we get to go to ghana and other african countries and they are more or less better organised.
I think a special thread should start on police corruption and we should really publicize the thread, post all your shameful encounters with the Nigerian police and quote the police id and name of the police person in question, get the newspapers and entire nigerians invoved. Invite the police public relations officer to be a part (if this will help), send mail to their email address. For your own safety , make sure your address and phone number is not listed on nairaland o!!!.

I have personally met with a number of very decent police officers, educated, polished, its just some bad eggs that spoil the whole pack

In a nutshell, the MOST important paper required of Nigerian road users for presentation to the police force is PAPER MONEY, and this should be kept handy at all times and tendered immediately the key words " How is the weekend ? " are invoked by the arresting officer.

BUT HOW LONG CAN WE TOLERATE THIS?? TIME TO FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT?

I heard over the radio yesterday that anyone caught give bribe of any kind to a police officer will face a penalty of spending 7 years in jail.
What do we have to say in this case?

Do you know the number of police men that gets fired every week based on bribery and extortions?

No one will enforce your right for you, it is your duty to do so and when you fail to enforce it in a reasonable manner you ony have yourself to blame not the police.

The average Nigerian does not know how to talk to begin with and will unknowingly abuse or insult a policeman in the process or maintaining his or her right, and that will become another issue that the policeman can capitalize on as you do not have the right to abuse anyone on uniform.

I am aware of that wonderful website

I am also aware that, boldly written behind the counter of every police station in Nigeria is this harmless phrase:

[size=18pt]BAIL IS FREE[/size]

Like my ancestors would say, never argue with a man with a gun. many have been christiened armed-robbers on the spot in the process, post-humously of course, with their blood to serve as the river jordan.


The fact remains that if you want to prove your right with a naija police along the highway, you could pend hours doing that, while he's doing his f*****g job and wasting your time simultaneously.

My advice:  apply great wisdom when you have to deal with an armed policeman in Nigeria. We live in a lawless society! You life is more important. When you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and an armed policeman is being unreasonable, just try to comply as much as you can. Ensure you get all the documents, whether required or not. Tell the IG to drive in an unmarked from Lagos to Port Harcourt, if he's unlucky, they would have asked him to do some frog jumps before they discover he's IG.

Thats webiste is not coming up, i hope the site is not living up to the name of the owners?

This should be a thread that peple  must look into.
Can u imagine my friends and i got robbed in Ikoyi, not too far from there was a police check-point. We were asked for documents and i immediately reported that there were robbers at about 5 mins away. They explained that we shouldn't have stopped that they were small boys with rubber guns. And that we should have gotten down and beaten them up.
I told him they could have one of their cars go there to arrest these people. They all made gestures like a child sent to go do his homework. They finally said they were not sent on that mission._{(but their mission was to stay on tne road n collect N20)}
THIS IS TOO EMBARASSING FOR NIGERIA

Guys, guys, methinks u have to check out ruemu's post. I 've had the print out of the facts on the police website for over a year now and since then like Tom Tom, its been sweet relief. What i've found out is that the more papers you carry around, the more faults the policemen are going to find with it so I go around with only four documents, my driver's licence, vehicle licence, insurance and the print out from the police website. Try it and see. Once they sight the "fourth" document, they know that you know. If they still insist on some other documents, insist that you should call the police PRO to confirm. His name is Bode Ojajuni and his phone number is right there on the print out from the website. Things has got to start changing in this country and we're part of the people that should be in the vanguard. Besides, why should anybody be taking away your hard earned money from you illegally. But a word of caution, don't shout or abuse the police, tackle them politely with the facts at hand and pls, just give them what they want if its on a lonely road at night and u're the only one in the car.

They should ask for naira and kobo.

To be on the safe side, you better carry all the papers and show it to them o!

The last thing you want is to get into an argument with the police. You could get shot and paraded as an armed robber later. Even if such a case is re-visited and the culprits brought to justice, does it bring the person back from the dead?

DELE UDOH- Nigerian sprinter: Killed at a police checkpoint in 1981.
EZRA RINDHAM (Army Colonel): killed at a police checkpoint in the early 90s.

A pregnant woman has been shot at Rumuola junction in PH in 2002, when a policeman fired at the bus she was in. She died on the spot.

A young man had also been shot by a policeman as he was in a bus at Rumuola junction. The policeman in question said the bus driver sprayed water on him at the Bori Camp area, just a short distance before then. His response? To chase the bus driver on a bike and shoot indiscriminately.

This young man, whose intestines were shot out, was bleeding internally. He was treated by my medical team, where we operated on him and evacuated nearly half of his blood volume from his abdomen. He survived.

Do you know the response of the police? They offered to contribute N10,000 for his treatment! (Treatment cost nearly a N100,000). Of course the family refused the money and poured curses on the policemen involved.

My lesson? It is better to err on the side of caution and carry everything, than to start speaking grammar, trying to prove right.

DEAD MEN DON'T TALK!

Everyone on this forum should take this serious! (at least those living in Naija or who are in diaspora but will soon visit Naija).

well thank u all for ur advise but i want to make it clear here that commercial vehcle drivers shld keep their normal 20 naira close to their documents.
for private cars, please endeavour to know what they want so that u will not be shown on crime fighters.
nigerian police most times don't open the documents.
wey ur papers, u give the first, he put in his pocket and tell you yes. which other ones do u have? u give them out he put in his pocket and where is your drivers license? u give him he put in his pocket and then look at you. who are u? what is you occupation and who is the owner of this car? how long have u been in business that u are driving this big car? another policeman will come arround u are say, he fits in the description of those robbers that escaped in ore.
ok since u are not ready to comply enter the car let us go to the station and if u ask what is my offence they will tell u to wait till we get to the station.
is either u act or they will dump u at the station and go back to their check point.
if anyone is saying policemen are being sacked in thousands in every week, i will not doubt but what i will always doubt is the reason behind the sack. if someone says bribe i will refuse because from balogun to ehindero then our yet to confirm okiro no one can differentiate them from corruption.
many who know their rights have died in the hands of nigerian police so i don't want to right and die so better i live and be wrong.

i dont even care what they ask but my God the music is terrible, just like all the local songs on NTA and so on