Court Bars FRSC From Operating on Kano State Roads

(FRSC. Photo by TheCable)

The Federal High Court in Kano has barred the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) from operating on state and local government roads.

According to a report online, the court declared the corps’ operations on township roads within Kano metropolis unlawful, ruling that they violated the fundamental rights of citizens.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, presiding judge M.S. Shuaibu ruled in favour of Abba Hikima, a Kano-based lawyer who had sued the FRSC over its activities in July 2025.

The judge held that FRSC officers acted outside their statutory powers by stopping, questioning and delaying motorists on township roads, thereby infringing on the constitutional rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement guaranteed under Sections 35 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution.

The court granted all the reliefs sought by Hikima, including a perpetual injunction restraining FRSC personnel from stopping or harassing motorists on Kano state roads without lawful authority.

The judge also ordered the corps to publish a public apology in a national newspaper and awarded the applicant N800,000 in damages and costs.

The suit arose from an incident in July 2025, when FRSC operatives mounted checkpoints on township roads in Kano and stopped motorists, including Hikima, demanding driver’s licences and questioning them despite the absence of any traffic offence.

Hikima subsequently approached the court, arguing that the corps had unlawfully violated his fundamental rights, and maintained that the FRSC’s statutory mandate covers only federal highways and does not extend to state or local government roads.