Residents Hail Police Over Removal Of Tinted Glasses

Residents of Abuja have commended the police for insisting on the removal of tintd glasses from vehicles in the city, saying the move will further improve security. The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had ordered the removal of tinted glasses from vehicles in the country and the operation tagged “velvet” has since commenced in the FCT.

Some of the residents who spoke with our correspondent said it is easy for people to hide behind tinted glasses and carry out criminalities.

One of the residents, James Chime, said even though many people were not happy about the development, it was necessary in the interest of security.

“Desperate situations call for desperate measures and if this is one of the things that must be done to enhance security, then it is welcome,” he said.

Another resident, Engr. Joe Musa, also hailed the action of the police, saying it was necessary considering the level of insecurity in the country.

However, some residents have lampooned the police over what they termed selective enforcement of the order.

One of them, Martha Oku, said, “I was driving behind a convoy of three black vehicles, all with tinted glasses and there was nothing to show that they were government or security vehicles as the number plates were private ones but when the police stopped the first car in the convoy, the occupant at the back of the car just wound down the window glass and all three cars were allowed to go while other people were by the side struggling to peel off the tint from their vehicle glasses. I don’t think that is right.”

But the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Frank Mba, has urged Nigerians using vehicles with tinted glasses to look beyond the inconvenience of obeying and removing such glasses and act for the good of all.

Mba told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the police had no way of knowing who a suicide bomber, terrorist, kidnapper or arms trafficker is and therefore the tinted glasses must go because it is used to execute nefarious acts

“The empirical statistics at our disposal show that 90 per cent of these crimes were committed with the aid of vehicles with tinted glasses. We must stop this in the interest of the nation,’’ he stressed, explaining that the law banning the use of cars with tinted glasses stipulates that owners should get a permit or remove them within 14 days.

“Section 3 of that law says that a buyer, a donee or an importer of a vehicle with tinted glasses, has a grace period of 14 days to either get a permit or remove the tint. If you read that section very well, you will understand that since the law made reference to giving 14 days grace to an importer, it simply means that it is not part of the objectives of the law to ban the importation of vehicles with tinted glasses.”

“If the law had intended to ban the importation of vehicles with tinted glasses, the law wouldn’t have given 14 days grace to importer of a vehicle with tinted glass within which to either to get a permit or remove the tinted glasses. We are guided by the law. If the law never banned the importation, it will be dwelling on an illegality for us to begin to restrict the importation of these vehicles,” he explained.

Mba stressed that the law permits one to obtain a vehicle with tint but such owners must be qualified or get a permit to use it, stressing that “If anyone has a problem with the law, the remedy is not to make noise. The remedy is to tell the National Assembly we do not want these laws again. But as long as that law is in force, we have the powers to enforce the law and enforcing the law we would do.’’


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