By MONDAY IJEH

The Nigeria Police Force has insisted that there was no court order that restrained the Force from enforcing tinted glass permit as being speculated.

The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, told newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja that the order being talked about was to maintain status quo on the issue.

He said the status quo at the time the order was made was the enforcement of the policy.

“At no point did any court restrain the Nigerian Police Force from enforcing the tinted gas permit policy.

“That injunction talked about maintaining the status quo and I don’t want to go into the technicalities, but it talked about maintaining the status quo.

“At the time that order was given, the status quo was enforcement, not pre-enforcement,” he said.

He said the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr. Kayode Egbetokun at a meeting with a delegation from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) decided to follow the path of care, listening and being concerned.

“And he gave that directive that the tinted glass permit policy be suspended. That suspension was not based on any court order.

“It was based on the Nigerian Police Force being responsible and being responsive to the yearnings of the people because of the appeal by the NBA.

“When we announced that suspension, there was no time frame to it because we were hoping that the court case would have reached a logical conclusion by now,” he said.

He said the statement issued at that time said the suspension was to give Nigerians room to regularise their documentation and to also await the outcome of the court.

Hundeyin said the court case had been dragging on and that criminal elements have been using the tinted vehicles to perpetrate crime.

According to him, you might not know, we know because we gather information, we gather intelligence, and we maintain crime statistics.

“Just two weeks ago in Edo, the police tried to stop a Lexus SUV with fully tinted vehicles but the occupants refused to stop, and there was a pursuit.

“Upon boxing the vehicle into a corner, the police approached the occupants and the next thing was for them to open fire on the police officer that led to the death of the officer instantly.

“They were able to do this easily because the vehicle was fully tinted,” he said.

Hundeyin said the Nigeria Police Force would continue to enforce the policy until the court makes a clear pronouncement on the issue. (NAN)

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