Ebuka Umeh, a Nigerian youth, has narrated how some policemen at Onireke Police Station in Lagos State extorted N10,000 from him on Sunday for driving a car with tinted glasses, even after showing them the permit.

From his observation, the extortion has become a habit for these policemen manning the Badagry-FESTAC Expressway, opposite Ojo Military Barracks, as he counted up to 15 vehicles whose owners or drivers were equally extorted for the period he was detained.

“When they stopped me, I humbly explained that the car belonged to my sick dad whom I was running an errand for,” he told FIJ while giving an account of his ordeal, which lasted approximately five hours in the station.

“In fact, I was headed for Emel Hospital in FESTAC to get my dad’s routine drugs for hypertension patients. 

“I showed the policemen the videos of his state of health and begged them not to delay me but I they insisted I drive into their station.”

Umeh asked if there is anything illegal in driving a car with tinted glasses, which has a permit.

“Please, is it wrong to drive a car with Nylon-fitted tinted glasses that haa a Police permit?” he asked.

“This is not the first time my dad or I would drive that car and show police officers the same permit whenever we were stopped.”

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He added that the car glasses were tinted in 2019 for medical reasons.

During a meeting with senior police officers at the Force Headquarters, Abuja in early June, Usman Alkali Baba, the Inspector-General of Police, had announced the suspension of issuance of new tinted permits.

 Frank Mba, spokesman of the Police, would later affirm that all existing vehicle tinted glass permits, duly issued by the Nigeria Police Force, remain valid.

When contacted for comments on the extortion, Muyiwa Adejobi, the Lagos police spokesman, asked FIJ to give his number to the victim so he could call him from the police station where the extortion took place.