Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Delta State High Court has ordered the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police for Delta State, and the Police Service Commission to pay ₦20 million in damages for violating the fundamental rights of a human rights lawyer who was repeatedly arrested and detained over the use of a vehicle with factory-fitted tinted glasses. The judgment, delivered on Friday, July 31, 2026, by Justice Joe Egwu of the Orerokpe Judicial Division, found that the police actions constituted a flagrant breach of the applicant's constitutionally guaranteed rights.
The applicant, John-Larry Ojukoko, who is the Immediate Past Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Warri Branch, and currently serves as Chairman of the branch's Human Rights Committee, told the court that he was the owner and driver of vehicles fitted with factory-installed tinted glasses, which he had been using on federal and state roads without any prior incident. However, on October 8, 2025, while driving along Refinery Road near Delta Mall in Effurun, officers attached to the Ekpan Divisional Police Headquarters stopped him, impounded his vehicle, subjected him to harassment, and subsequently detained him at the police station.
Ojukoko argued that his arrest and detention occurred despite the existence of a valid court order issued on October 3, 2025, by the Federal High Court in Warri, which had directed the Nigeria Police Force to maintain the status quo pending the determination of a suit challenging the Motor Vehicles (Prohibition of Tinted Glass) Decree, 1991. That suit had been filed by Tinted Vehicle Users, who were seeking judicial determination over the legality and enforcement of the decree. Despite the subsisting court order, police officers proceeded to arrest and detain the lawyer.
Barely two weeks later, on October 21, 2025, while driving his tinted Toyota Camry to his office, Ojukoko was once again stopped by officers attached to the Ebrumede Divisional Police Headquarters. The officers, who were manning a roadblock along the DSC Expressway, detained him on the same allegation—driving a vehicle with tinted glasses without possessing a tinted glass permit.
Following the hearing of the Fundamental Human Rights Enforcement Application, Justice Joe Egwu ruled in favour of the applicant, holding that the actions of the police authorities violated his fundamental rights. The court consequently awarded ₦20 million in damages against the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police for Delta State, and the Police Service Commission, ordering that they be held jointly and severally liable for the rights violations. The judgment serves as a stern rebuke to the police for disregarding a subsisting court order and subjecting a citizen, particularly a legal practitioner, to repeated harassment and unlawful detention.
The case highlights the ongoing tension between law enforcement agencies and citizens over the enforcement of the tinted glass prohibition, even as legal challenges to the decree remain pending. It also underscores the judiciary's commitment to upholding fundamental rights and holding security agencies accountable for abuses of power. As of the time of this report, the Nigeria Police Force had not issued an official response to the judgment.
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