Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji (Tunji) Disu, says he would ban all tinted vehicles nationwide if he had the power to do so. Speaking in Abuja, he links tinted glass to Nigeria’s security challenges, arguing that criminals frequently use heavily tinted vehicles for kidnapping, armed robbery and “one-chance” scams. Disu also says police investigations in the Federal Capital Territory found that vehicles used by “one-chance” gangs often had dark or fully tinted windows, and he recalls that vehicles recovered from such groups showed a pattern of tinted glass. He adds that very dark tints on windscreens and rear windows reduce visibility for security officers during stop-and-search operations, potentially putting operatives at risk.
Disu states that legal use of tinted glass should be limited to people with genuine security or medical reasons, and that even then, tint should not fully block visibility. He says police enforcement against illegally tinted vehicles is set to increase. In response to concerns raised by the Nigerian Bar Association, Disu’s comments come alongside debate over the renewal and commercialisation of tinted glass permit processes and concerns about revenue generation and repeated renewals.
