The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, Imo State, has ruled that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has no legal authority to seize a citizen’s driver’s licence, vehicle, or related documents without obtaining a valid court order.
A three-member panel of justices gave the ruling in appeal number CA/OW/199/2022 filed by the FRSC, the corps marshal, and an officer identified by uniform number COSS 35. The appeal challenged a previous judgement of the Abia State High Court, which had declared the seizure of a driver’s licence and vehicle by FRSC officials unlawful and a violation of fundamental human rights.
The case was initiated by Emmanuel Ugochukwu, a medical doctor, who recounted that FRSC officials in Umuahia, Abia State, accosted him during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 while he was driving along Bende Road on a day reserved for essential workers, as directed by the then-governor, Okezie Ikpeazu.
Ugochukwu told the court that although all his vehicle documents were in order, the officers demanded a bribe. When he declined, citing he had no cash, they accused him of fictitious traffic offences and seized his driver’s licence.
“From a casual ‘find me something’, I had suddenly become a traffic offender,” he said. “They came up with a cooked-up charge — ‘worn-out tyre or no spare tyre.’ It was laughable.”
On March 15, 2022, Justice A.I. Nwabuogu of the Abia State High Court ruled in favour of Ugochukwu and awarded ₦30 million in damages against the FRSC for infringing on his fundamental rights.
The FRSC appealed the verdict, but on June 27, the appellate court upheld the lower court’s judgment, affirming that the agency acted unlawfully. However, the three-member panel — comprising Justices Wambai Amina, Abubakar Lawal, and Ntong Ntong — reduced the damages from ₦30 million to ₦10 million.
“Issues 1 and 2 having been resolved against the appellants, the decision of the lower court adjudging the appellants as having violated the fundamental human rights of the respondent is affirmed,” the court ruled. “The sum of ₦30,000,000 awarded as general and exemplary damages is reduced to ₦10,000,000 only.”
This ruling follows a similar judgment delivered in January by a Federal High Court in Lagos, where Justice Akintayo Aluko barred the FRSC from impounding vehicles with faded number plates or penalizing drivers over such matters.