A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday restrained the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Road Safety Corps from imposing fines and penalties on motorists accused of breaching the Third Party Motor Vehicle Insurance Act without first getting a court order. Justice Hauwa Yilwa said the police and the FRSC may stop vehicles and check compliance, but they do not have the legal authority to punish offenders on the spot.
The case was brought by Deji Adeyanju against the Inspector-General of Police, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the FRSC in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/291/2025. It asked the court to decide whether the nigeria police could enforce third-party insurance, impose fines and whether that kind of enforcement violates constitutional rights. Adeyanju said the ruling gave him what he came for, while his lawyer, Marvin Omorogbe, said the court affirmed that the agencies can enforce compliance but cannot impose fines.
The court’s order reached beyond the parties named in the suit. It restrained the IGP, the police force and all their officers, including the FRSC, from imposing fines on motor vehicle users or Nigerian citizens. That matters because third-party motor insurance checks are routine on Nigerian roads, and the judgment draws a hard line between enforcement and punishment.
Justice Yilwa also dismissed a preliminary objection raised by police counsel Andrew Victor, who had argued that the court lacked jurisdiction and that the police had not been served. The judge said the originating summons had in fact been served on all respondents, listing service dates including April 3, May 21, November 14, 17, January 28 and April 21. She also said the first respondent, the police, was aware of the suit but chose not to respond, which she viewed as an attempt to delay the judgment.
That leaves the enforcement question narrower, but not settled. Victor Okoye said the defendants viewed the ruling as only partly favourable because it still affirmed the power of both the police and the FRSC to stop motorists and verify compliance with third-party insurance requirements. He said they planned to take the matter to the court of appeal, where they would challenge whether the case should have been heard at all.
Adeyanju said the court had accepted his core argument: that no Nigerian should be fined by the police or the road safety agency over motor insurance without judicial backing. The ruling now gives motorists a shield against roadside penalties, but it also sets up a new fight in the appeal court over how far the agencies’ enforcement powers really run under the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Insurance) Act, the Insurance Act and the FRSC (Establishment) Act.
