The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) has charged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to issue a directive, immediately stopping the issuance of/demand for the Central Motor Registry Information System (CMRIS) certificates nationwide.
NBA-SPIDEL further demanded that the registration website and every other physical registration centres be shut down, and every money already collected from Nigerians be refunded to them within three days of receiving its notice.
This demand is contained in a letter signed by NBA-SPIDEL Chairman, John Aikpokpo-Martins, and the Secretary to the IGP, Funmi Adeogun, tilted, ‘Re: Issuance of Central Motor Registry Information System (CMRIS) Certificate by the Nigeria Police Force: A Demand for Immediate Stoppage of Same.’
The group described the action as illegal, warning that failure, neglect or refusal to comply with the demand within seven days of the receipt of this letter would compel NBA-SPIDEL to seek appropriate sanctions in court against the IGP and the police.
The letter reads: “The attention of NBA-SPIDEL has been recently drawn to reports all around the country that vehicle owners are mandated to register and obtain a CMRIS Certificate from the Nigeria Police for a cost of not less than N6,000.
“NBA-SPIDEL also has it on good authority that the men of the Nigeria Police have since started enforcing compliance wherein purported defaulters have been made to part with their hard-earned money in thousands of naira.
“In the light of these developments, the NBA-SPIDEL questions the legal propriety, which enables the Nigeria Police to issue CMRIS Certificates to vehicle owner.” particularly when it is not clearly stated in any laws (at least to our knowledge) that the Nigeria Police has any authority to issue car licenses or certificates of any nature to vehicle owners after due registration of vehicles in the appropriate office.”
NBA-SPIDEL, therefore, stated that any such certificate being issued by the Police without any legal backing, is outright illegal, null and void and, therefore, of no consequence.
The body of lawyers reiterated that the duty of the police in protecting the citizens and enforcing the law does not extend to collecting money and/or issuing certificates to vehicle owners.
The letter further noted: “Regrettably, the men of the Nigerian Police have since taken advantage of the ignorance of unsuspecting Nigerians by extorting large sums of money from them for failure to present the CMRIS certificate on demand during road search. This illegality has to stop immediately.
“Consequently, the NBA-SPIDEL states that these acts of illegality must not continue unabated and therefore unequivocally demand that the Nigeria Police immediately stop the issuance and/or demand for the (CMRIS) Certificate.”