Motorists in Lagos State have described as “cumbersome” the current online processing of permit for tinted vehicle glass.
Some of the motorists, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday at the Ikeja Police Command, said the Police should have exempted motorists currently having the permits.
A civil servant, Mr Eugene Adaba, said that the process of registration online was too cumbersome because “one has to restart the process all over, once a mistake is made”.
“It took me days before I was able to print out the online registration form, because the process is too long and after that, you come again to queue up inside the sun at the command.
“The police would have made the form simple to fill online. It is very difficult, I can tell you,” he said.
A nurse, Mrs Sade Alabi, said that the Police would have exempted holders of the permit and focus on new ones.
“The Police should have concentrated on new applicants’ registration and another thing is that the online registration is not easy to do,” she complained.
“The period should be extended to enable people with factory-fitted tinted glass to obtain the documents,” she told NAN.
A businessman, Mr Festus Odia, suggested that the registration should be left open all the time to those who need to acquire the permit.
One of the Police officers screening the motorists told NAN on condition of anonymity, that those complaining were motorists that were not serious about the permit.
“This registration started since January. Many of them did not take it serious, until the dying minutes.
“Many Nigerians do not take things serious until the last date for the exercise to be over,” the Police officer told NAN.
NAN reports that there was a long queue of motorists at the Police State Command on Friday, waiting to be attended to by officers screening them.
NAN also reports that on Dec. 31, 2015, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, directed that holders of vehicles with tint permits should revalidate them with effect from Jan. 1, 2016, giving a three-month window until March 18.
In his reaction, the Force Police Public Relations Officer (FPPRO), ACP Olabisi Kolawole, said that the revalidation on tint permit was to involve citizens in crime control.
Kolawole said that the permit would indirectly help in crime control, stressing that many vehicles with tinted glasses were always used by suspected criminals.
“We will all benefit when we support law enforcement efforts.
“Tinted glass permit is without charge or fee. It is a free service,” she said. (NAN)