Nigerian Motorists Lament Police Extortion In Delta Over Electronic Central Motor Registry

Motorists and private car owners have raised the alarm and protested against what they described as ‘criminal’ manner in which policemen attached to some divisions in Delta State have continued to take advantage of the new electronic Central Motor Registry (e-CMR), to extort members of the public.

The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law had sued the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, over the issuance of the electronic Central Motor Registry (e-CMR), to vehicle owners across the country.

The police in December 2023 unveiled the e-CMR as one of the means to help the police have essential details of vehicle owners in their database.

But in a letter dated January 29, 2024, the NBA-SPIDEL Chairman, John Aikpokpo-Martins, and Secretary, Funmi Adeogun, described the issuance of the certificate as illegal and issued a seven-day ultimatum on the IG to discontinue its issuance and remove it from their website.

It said, “Any such certificate being issued by the Nigeria Police Force without legal backing is outright illegal, null, and void, and therefore of no consequence. The police duty was solely restricted under the law to protect citizens and enforce the law.”

The police bowed to pressure and announced the suspension of the exercise but they are suspected to have commenced a fresh move to enforce the electronic Central Motor Registry (e-CMR) in the country.

In a post last month on X, formerly known as Twitter, accompanied with a graphic design, the police highlighted the key benefits of the system while in a flier, they invited and directed the general public to the website created for registration, saying, “Unlock the future of vehicle security with the Nigeria Police Force’s Electronic Central Motor Registry (E-CMR)! Why choose E-CMR?” The flier, which has the police logo reads, “To register now kindly visit www.cmrisnpf.gov.ng/.”

Meanwhile, motorists plying the East-West Road and passing through checkpoints along Patani Road, Delta state have raised the alarm and protested against what they described as the ‘criminal’ manner by which policemen attached to some divisions in the state have been taking advantage of the e-CMR to extort members of the public.

Some of the motorists, who spoke with on Sunday, lamented the rate at which the policemen along Patani Road extort them over their inability to produce the e-CMR, which is still a subject of litigation.

A motorist who simply identified himself as Francis alleged that last week, police officers at a checkpoint along the Patani Road in Delta state extorted N50,000 from him as he was unable to provide the e-CMR.

He said, “It was a very sorry situation at the police checkpoint along Patani Road. There is a notorious police checkpoint as you are entering Patani from Ughelli, just after the customs checkpoint, that is where extortion is taking place every blessed day.

“Once you don’t have the e-CMR, you must pay N50,000. I witnessed a situation where a private car owner travelling to Port Harcourt was made to pay N100,000 because he did not have the e-CMR. There is no amount of phone calls you will make; they will detain you there until you have paid what they demanded from you.

“When I argued with them that the IG of police has suspended the issuance of the e-CMR, they almost assaulted me. I am calling on the Delta police commissioner, IG and the presidency to caution the police officers.”

Narrating his experience at the hands of the policemen along the Patani Road, a medical doctor who gave his identity as Doctor Famous, said, he was a victim of the police team at the checkpoint.

He said, “I am surprised that a scheme that has been suspended by the IG, some policemen in Delta state are using it to extort the general public. I was travelling to Port Harcourt on that fateful day when these police officers stopped me and demanded to see my e-CMR after collecting from me my vehicle licence and driver’s licence.

“I was forced to pay N30,000 before I was given my papers and allowed to go after much delay for over two hours. Because I could not provide the e-CMR, I was extorted N30,000 and someone told me I was lucky if not they usually collect N50,000 and N100,000 as the case may be. I am calling on the commissioner of police, Delta state command, the Inspector General of Police and President Bola Tinubu and National Security Adviser to come to our aid and call these criminal-minded police officers on our highways.”

The National President, Committee For Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Kehinde Prince Taiga, had early this year expressed concern over the manner by which some policemen were taking advantage of the e-CMR to extort members of the public.

He said, “Having seen and heard a lot of cases on police extortion of some semi-literate drivers and those who are not smart phones compliant even some educated ones who are still not up to date on the online registration of e-CMR, I felt compelled to appeal to the Inspector General of Police, (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, to extend the period of its enforcement.

“This appeal had become very necessary at this time as we have been recording countless cases of extortions by policemen across various police divisions within Delta state where vehicles owners were being made to pay as much as N40,000–N60,000 as bail sum to free their vehicles when impounded by these law enforcing agents on the road.”

Contacted over the issue, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Bright Edafe, stated that it was its enforcement that was suspended and not the scheme, adding that no police personnel in the state have been permitted to enforce it or use it as an opportunity for extortion.

“It was not suspended, only enforcement was suspended. This means you have time to go and register for it. However, the men are not to enforce yet nor extort over it,” he said.