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In 2024, a resident of Alagbado area of Lagos, Mrs Bridget Adegoke, revealed a harrowing experience in the hands
of personnel of the police force while she was trying to get a police report after losing her handbag containing her personal effets like international passport, national identity card, automated teller machine (ATM) card and other personal items that could
identify her.
“I didn’t drive that day because
of traffic, so I decided to use keke
(Nigerian name for tricycle),” she
narrated to our corrspondent.
“While coming back, I lost my
bag to snatchers while alighting
from the keke taking me home.
Painful as the experience was, I
was advised to obtain police re-
port for my safety since I had personal effects in the bag.
“To cut the story short, I was at
a police station very close to my
house and the experience was
very sad, may be because they
realised my anxiety.
“In what they told me that cannot cost more than N2,000, I spent
over N20,000 with begging because
I had to bribe my way to fast track
this. There was a man who came
for similar report and because
he was not ready to do their bidding, he was left their with excuse that the person in charge was not around,” Mrs Adegoke regrettably said.
Meanwhile, the experience of
Bridget is one of the many examples of police officers going above
the red line in the course of doing
their legitimate duties. This is why there is palpable fear among car owners in Nigeria following the order by the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode
Egbetokun, for full enforcement
of third party motor insurance
effective February 1.
Despite that insurance stakeholders have applauded the third party motor insurance policy as the right way to go as it would greatly ensure order on the road,
the fear among Nigerians stems from the involvement of police and the antecedents of their personnel who always take advantage of such situation to not only extort the citizens but at times provide situations that leave fatalities in their trail.
The third party motor insurance, as an initiative, according to the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), aims to curb the high number of uninsured
vehicles on Nigerian roads and provide victims of accidents with proper compensation.
While the policy, NAICOM noted, has been established under the Insurance Act of 2003, many Nigerians, especially vehicle owners, remained uncertain about the details and implications of this
enforcement.
This is why the apprehension is rife about the possibility of police leveraging the enforcement to extort and even harm the citizens, who may be unwilling to go the extra mile owing to poor knowl-
edge of the perceived relevance of the policy.
In a press statement released
by the National Insurance Commission, titled ‘Understanding the Latest Announcement of the Enforcement of Third-Party Insurance by the Nigeria Police Force’, it said third-party insurance is the minimum coverage compulsorily required by law for any vehicle on Nigerian roads, while Comprehensive Motor Insurance is optional and recommended.
The commission, while explain-
ing this, said, “It welcomes the announcement by the Nigeria Police
Force that, effective 1st February
2025, there will be a nationwide
enforcement of Third-Party Motor Insurance for all vehicles on Nigerian roads. This move aims to ensure compliance with Section 68 of the Insurance Act 2003.
“The commission recognises that many Nigerians, especially vehicle owners, may not fully understand the importance of the law or the benefits of the Third-Party Motor Insurance Policy. So, what does this mean for vehicle owners in Nigeria?
“Third-Party Motor Insurance is the minimum coverage compulsorily required by law for any vehicle on our roads, while Comprehensive Motor Insurance is optional but recommended.
“The purpose of every vehicle on the road having Third-Party Motor Insurance is to ensure the safety of others and provide
financial compensation for damages, injuries, or loss of life in the event of accidents covered by the policy.
“The Third-Party Motor Insurance Policy can be procured from or through only licensed insurance entities authorized by the National Insurance Commission
to transact Motor Insurance business in Nigeria.
“The Third-Party Motor Insurance Policy is sold for a premium of N15,000 per year to private car owners, while the premiums for commercial vehicles vary depending on the type of vehicle.
“The Third-Party Motor Insurance Policy offers policyholders coverage up to N3 million to repair or replace the property
of an innocent third party damaged during an accident. It also provides access to limited medical care for any injured third party as a result of the accident. In addition, it provides financial
compensation to the family of the
deceased innocent third party in the event of death. Furthermore, the Third-Party Motor Insurance Policy now includes third-party motor insurance coverage for the vehicle if driven to any West African country, as per the ECOWAS Brown Card Scheme.
“The commission encourages vehicle owners in Nigeria to take full advantage of the enforcement announced by the Nigerian Police Force to ensure the safety and protection of lives, properties, and financial compensation for innocent third parties on our roads.”
The explanations by the regulatory body notwithstanding, instances abound where the uniform men had taking advantage of enforcements to show overzealousness and, in the process,
molest, extort and even go the extreme of harming the very people they should educate on the imperatives of such orders.
Also, individuals have questioned the
forced enforcement of the policy, saying
the big players in the insurance industry
could be culpable.
Speaking to our corrspondent, a source
at one of the big insurance players in the
country confirmed that the decision to enforce the policy by the police might have emanated from the industry.
He alleged that it was the industry
players that could have approached the
police for enforcement as they observed
that there was a sharp decline in the number of policies sought for by the public.
“I think this may not be the initiative of
the police but from the industry players
who feel that when police are involved,
people will rush to comply.
“It is now like a reaping time for the
industry as there is a surge from vehicle
owners,” he said.
Consequently, while speaking to our
corrspondent on the inherent fear of
forced enforcement, a retired divisional
police officer, Mr Ifeanyi Okonkwo, who at a time served in Lagos State, said the apprehension is right. He however charged vehicle owners to try and be in the right side of the law.
“Your fear is right,” he told our correspondent.
“Policemen, especially the newly recruited ones, may take the enforcement out of place and this is why I will advise vehicle owners to do the right thing by getting the policy.
“Once you have it, no police officer will
stand in your way but when you don’t have it, you expose yourself to forced enforcement and through that, anything can happen,” he advised.
Despite the assurance from the police
quarters of professionalism on the part of their personnel towards enforcing compliance, Nigerians have continued to express pessimism given that instances of police’ excesses abound in situations like this.
Majority of people spoken to hinged their
pessimisms on their previous encounters
with the police.
For instance, a resident of Ahmadiyya
in Lagos told our correspondent how his
cousin was killed during compulsory
stop-and-search operations in Ugheli,
Delta State, years back.
“It happened some years back when a
police officer was killed during a bank
robbery,” Udofia Etim from Akwa Ibom
State, recalled.
“He was a student but visited Ugheli
during vacation. His brother told us that
Francis left home to a bank but never
came back.
“He said those at the scene revealed
that the killing of the police officer attached to another bank led to the whole place being flooded by policemen and my cousin was passing when they stopped him and asked him to raise his hands up.
“I was told he attempted to dip his hand
into his pocket to produce his ID card but
was shot as the police, may be, thought he wanted to bring out something to harm them,” Etim narrated.
So many Nigerians have said they had
to pay a bribe to obtain police assistance,
bypass a process or avoid problems with
the personnel. Consequently, most Nigerians see the police as corrupt, untrustworthy and lacking in professionalism, and substantial proportions say the police
stop drivers without good reason, use excessive force against protesters and suspected criminals, and engage in criminal activities in the course of enforcing any rules on the citizens, a development that has continued to dogge the force.
For example, a report from the Amnesty International research, as obtained by
our correspondent, said at police checkpoints and during enforcement of rules, commercial drivers are often stopped and asked to pay a bribe, leading to brawls which, in some cases, lead to fatalities.
One driver, the report noted, described
what usually happens: “They (the police)
stop all vehicles and take money according to weight. Cars pay less than buses Trailers pay most. If anyone moves, they shoot.
“The police often shoot drivers who refuse to pay. They also shoot when there is a disagreement about the price or when it is unclear whether a bribe has been paid. Bystanders sometimes get shot by mistake.”
The report noted that on April 5, 2009,
a two-year-old girl was accidentally shot
by the police at a checkpoint in Lagos,
while the Force personnel were enforcing
an order.
Also, one Aneke Okorie, a 39-year-old
Okada (motorcycle taxi) rider and a father of four, the Amnesty report said, failed to pay a bribe to the police at a checkpoint in Emene, Enugu State, on May 15, 2012. He was shot and later succumbed to his injuries on his
way to the hospital. An eyewitness told
Amnesty International that the police
officer shot Aneke Okorie in the stomach and then hanged his gun around his
neck to suggest that the police officer was attacked by an ‘armed robber’.
The eyes witness, according to Amnesty International, said; “I realised the
young man was innocent… I instructed
the policemen to take the gun off his
neck… The man was still alive; he was
biting his fingers, he could not talk. He
was in pain.”
Amnesty said the eyewitness was asked
not to speak to the media. However, when radio reports in Enugu State claimed the police had killed an “armed robber”, the eyewitness and community leaders wrote a petition to the IGP, saying that Aneke Okorie was innocent and asking for the perpetrators to be brought “to justice.
Consequently, three police officers who
were involved in the shooting were arrested as a result. One police officer was dismissed and prosecuted.
In another instance, one Joseph Onu, a
commercial driver, was killed by the police in Imo State on 15 December 2018 after he refused to pay a bribe at a roadblock. He drove off but police officers chased him, and he was stopped
and shot. The police took him to the hospital, where he later died. An autopsy
established that he had died of gunshot injuries.
Before the last Yuletide, a commercial
motorcyclist in Ohafia, Abia State, with
the name, Ifeanyi, was killed by policemen at a checkpoint when he allegedly refused to pay his way out of their alleged illegal arrest.
Eyewitness told DAILY INDEPENDENT the young man who was alleged to have shown all required documents, said he was just coming out of a mechanic workshop and had no money on him.
After demanding that he be left to
leave, he was beating, leading to injuries
of which he later died from at a hospital.
On account of all these past extrajudicial killings and intimidations, Nigerians
have questioned the necessity of police
enforcing what should be a deed between an insurance companies and an individual, saying such was unnecessary.
An Ibadan-based lawyer, Barrister
Abiodun Amole, has described the directive by the police to enforce third-party insurance nationwide as unconstitutional.
Speaking to a national daily as seen by
DAILY INDEPENDENT, Amole insisted
that the move by the police was beyond
their legal mandate.
“In my humble opinion, the police lack
the power to enforce the third-party insurance policy among motorists in Nigeria,” he stated.
He further explained that an insurance
policy is a contractual agreement between the insurer and the insured, and it is not within the police’s jurisdiction to enforce such agreements.
“The police cannot confer on itself the
power not given to it by law, the Police
Act,” Amole asserted. Citing legal precedents, he argued that unless explicitly stated in the Police Act, the force cannot assume authority over matters not assigned to it by law.
“If it had been the intention of the legislature that the Nigeria Police should enforce the third-party insurance policy, it
would have been expressly stated in the
Police Act. It is not so stated and therefore cannot be read or imported into it by the police authorities under any guise whatsoever,” he said.
However, the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), commended the IGP and the Nigeria Police Force for their involvement in the policy.
The association said the initiative
aligned with the provisions of Section 68
of the Insurance Act 2003 and that it is a significant step towards strengthening compliance, ensuring road safety, and protecting motorists and third parties on Nigerian roads.
NIA chairman, Mr. Kunle Ahmed, reacting to the announcement, said it was
a welcome development and a timely and commendable action by the Nigeria Police Force.
According to him, the enforcement of
third-party motor insurance is not only a
compliance issue; but a vital strategy for
ensuring financial protection for victims
of road accidents and the car owners.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians have
linked the overzealousness and corruption in the police to a lot of factors bothering on their welfare.
According to investigation, personnel
of the Force have had to endure a lot of
unpleasant situations and poor conditions in their service to the public.
This issue is also heightened by what
many Nigerians have referred to as poor
recruitment process whereby background checks are not ran on potential recruits to know whom truly they are.
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