The stop and search and impounding of people vehicles by VIO officers is Illegal.

By Stanley Alieke, Esq.

Every state and city in Nigeria have men on orange uniform who are called Vehicle Inspection Officers. They are often mistaken to be the men of the Road Safety Corp but they are distinct from the road safety officers and they are carry out distinct although overlapping duties with the men of the Road Safety Corps.

Their duties according to their enabling acts are highlighted to include:

•Training and testing of applicants for Driver’s license

•Testing and training of applicants for Rider’s card

•Organizing seminars and public lectures.

•Carrying out inspection of vehicles involved in accidents

•Certification of driving schools

•Co-operating with other agencies to enforce traffic rules and regulations

•Providing accessible emergency services

•Co-operating with relevant agencies engaged in road safety activities or in the prevention

of accidents on the highways

•Preparing and keeping statutory registers and a database of all certificates issued and revoked.

It is the position of the court that the functions and duties of the Vehicle Inspection Officers as clearly spelt out didn’t give them the power to carry out the duty of the judiciary like imposing punishments and impounding of vehicles of alleged traffic offenders.

They have been held to be acting above their power in many instances by the court the recent of it is the 2021 fundamental rights enforcement suit no. HU/FHR/171/2021 filed by Edidiong Akpanuwa, Esq., the high court of Akwa Ibom state declared that the act of the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) conducting stop and search and impounding peoples’ vehicle for alleged break of traffic rules is illegal and unconstitutional. The court in their resounding wisdom went ahead to state that Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) acting on the instructions of the state government cannot in accordance with s.36 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria (1999) and in every struct sense of it assume the duties of the judiciary to impose penalties and impound vehicles of motors users who they have alleged to have committed traffic offense.

They have the power to prosecute but they will be acting ultra vires when they impose penalties to alleged traffic offenders.

By the reason of this recent case, no Vehicle Inspection Officer have the power to impound any user’s car for any reason whatsoever and will be acting in illegality when they impose punishment to anybody for alleged breach of traffic offense.

Stanley Alieke, Esq.
08128357041