….Cite Court barring FRSC From Impounding Vehicles
By Edem Ekpo
Tempers flared in Calabar on Monday morning as a group of women staged a protest at the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) sector command gate, Marian Road, demanding the release of a vehicle and their perishable goods allegedly seized without legal backing.
The protesters, mostly traders from the popular Watt and Marian markets, said their consignment of fresh pepper, garden eggs, and groundnuts was being ferried to market when FRSC officials intercepted the vehicle last week.
According to them, the driver was accused of a traffic offence but refused to “do the needful,” leading to the vehicle being detained at the Corps’ premises.
“Our vegetables are rotting away. We begged them to release the goods even if they hold the driver, but they refused. This is our only means of survival,” lamented Mrs. Ekaette Effiong, one of the aggrieved traders, as others chanted and waved placards.
The standoff has reignited criticism of the FRSC’s enforcement style, which has in recent years attracted public outrage for alleged harassment, extortion, and unlawful vehicle impoundment. A Federal High Court ruling in July 2024 had expressly declared that the FRSC has no right to impound or permanently detain any vehicle without first obtaining a valid court order.
In that landmark judgment, Justice Ibrahim Salisu ruled that the Corps’ powers under its Establishment Act are limited to enforcing road safety through fines and warnings, not indefinite seizures.
He stressed that holding vehicles indefinitely violates the owner’s right to property and could attract heavy damages.
Despite this clear ruling, incidents of similar nature have continued to surface nationwide. In Abuja, May 2024, a commercial bus was seized for alleged seatbelt violations, leaving passengers stranded and fresh produce worth thousands of naira to perish.
Witnesses claimed FRSC officials demanded a ₦50,000 “release fee.”
In Kaduna, November 2023, angry traders blocked the Kaduna–Abuja highway after the FRSC impounded three food-laden trucks for “overloading” without weighing the goods or issuing formal tickets. Similarly, in Ogun State, August 2022, a private car owner successfully sued the FRSC after his vehicle was held for over three weeks over a cracked windscreen; the court awarded him ₦2 million in damages.
Rights activists in Cross River State are now warning that the Calabar case could follow the same legal path.
“This is exactly the kind of abuse the court warned against,” said Barrister Iniobong Akpan, a public interest lawyer. “The FRSC must comply with the law or be ready to pay damages.”
At press time, FRSC officials in Calabar declined to comment on the matter.